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COPnUCHT DEPOSm 



Intimate Golf Talks 




The back swing for an explosion shot out of a bunker. 



Intimate ^^ 


^ 


Golf Talks 


^ 


By 




John Duncan Dunn 




Los Angeles Country Club 




with 




Klon Jessup 




Associate Editor of Outing 




With 82 Illustrations 




G. P. Putnam's Sons 




New York and London 




Cbe fxnichcrbocker press 




1920 





(^V^^ 

:^%^ 



5 



Copyright, 1920 

BY 

Cx. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



m.%^ 1520 



r--'LV 




©CI.A604268 



i ^'^ruj^ 



CO 

ALBERT BRITT 
Editor of Ouling 



FOREWORD 

HOW THIS BOOK CAME TO BE WRITTEN 

When John Duncan Dunn was the head of 
a large indoor golf school in New York it 
happened to be my privilege as Associate 
Editor of Oitting to interview him upon some 
small matter relating to the game. I learned 
what I wished to know and left with the usual 
reportorial haste. It seemed but a passing 
interview. But fortunately I had remained 
long enough to watch the way of Mr. Dunn 
with one of his pupils. It was golf instruction 
of a distinctly different sort from what I had 
ever come across before. A few days later 
upon mulling the matter over I went back 
to see him again. 

Such was the beginning of these golf talks 
by Mr. Dunn. My interest was twofold: to 

5 



FOREWORD 

improve my own mediocre game and at the 
same time see that the instructor's valuable 
suggestions became printed words. These 
talks are something more than interviews. 
They are the direct results of actual situations. 
I was the average golf duffer burdened with 
more than an average number of golfing faults 
of years' standing. The ghost of this same 
duffer, club in hand, stalks through the follow- 
ing pages. Mr. Dunn's words in great part 
are inspired by the sight of this actual exhibit 
out of which he is attempting to make a real 
golfer. 

During the course of my golf lesson inter- 
views with Mr. Dunn, both indoors and out, I 
often thought of a favourite professor of my 
college days. We students had thoroughly 
learned our subject under this professor. We 
couldn't help ourselves. He showed us that 
seemingly difficult things are usually amaz- 
ingly simple; he had the knack of sorting out 
important and relatively unimportant matters 
and assigning each to its respective groove. 

Very often he would repeat a thing which 

6 



FOREWORD 

another teacher under Hke conditions would 
dismiss as an accompHshed fact. He stuck to 
a subject until we knew it thoroughly. 

Philosophy 4 and the game of golf may or 
may not have much in common, but I have 
found that in both cases the methods of teach- 
ing can be the same. Mr. Dunn's common 
sense attitude greatly resembles the favourite 
professor's. He makes golf seem amazingly 
simple; he clearly shows you the difference 
between an essential and a non-essential. 
There may be golfers who can make a better 
score on the links than John Duncan Dunn, 
but I am thoroughly convinced there is not a 
man living who knows more about golf and 
how to teach it. 

Elon Jessuf. 



CONTENTS 



I.- 

II.- 

III.- 

IV.- 

V.- 

VI.- 

VII.- 

VIII.- 

IX.- 

X.- 

XI.- 

XII.- 

XIII.- 

XIV.- 

XV.- 

XVI.- 

XVII.- 



-PiCKiNG THE Right Clubs 

-Learning the Golf vScale 

-The Golf Grip 

-The Golf Stance . 

-The Golf Address 

-Some Golf Faults . 

-Getting the Knack of the Swing 

-Stick to the Minor Shots 



-From Three-Quarters to 
Swing .... 



Full 



-The Importance of Balance 
-Take Care of Your Hands . 
-Topping the Ball . 
-Overcoming Faults 
-Keeping the Muscles in Harmony 
-Slicing and Hooking 
-Methods of Curing Faults . 
-This Brings us to Putting 



PAGE 
17 
31 

47 
65 

75 

87 
103 

115 

131 

143 

155 
167 

179 

193 
205 

219 

229 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Fig. I. — A brassie and driver that light with each other. 
One is small-headed, the other large-headed, 
and the hes are different. Don't allow them in 
the same bag ...... 22 

Fig. 2. — A complete set of clubs. Left to right: driver, 
brassie, spoon, driving iron, midiron, mashie, 
niblick, putter ...... 25 

Fig. 3. — The clubs that will start you upon your golfing 
career. Unless you wish to look and feel real 
jaunty, these are plenty. Left to right: spoon, 
midiron, mashie, i)uttcr .26 

Fig. 4. — In case you arc instinctively susceptible to bal- 
ance, this test will tell you .some of the secrets 
of club balance . .27 

Fig. 5. — One of these clubs is yours — but only one. The 
three lies of wooden clubs; upright, medium, 
and flat 28 

Fig. 6. — A brassie and driver that thoroughly agree with 
each other. Same length shaft, same sized 
head ........ 29 

Fk;. 7. — First position in the pivot exercise. This corre- 
sponds to the golf address . . -35 

Fig. 8. — Second position in the ])ivot exercise. The top of 

the swing . -37 

Fk;. 9. — Third i)osition in the i)ivot exercise. Finish of 

the swing ....... 39 

Fig. 10. — First movement in the balance exercise . . 41 

II 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig. II. — Second movement in the balance exercise . . 43 

Fig. 12. — Third movement in the balance exercise . . 45 

Fig. 13. — The V or natural grip. Just as if you were grasp- 
ing a baseball bat . . ... .51 

Fig. 14. — The overlapping or Vardon grip. Note little 
finger of right hand overlapping forefinger of 
left 52 

Fig. 15. — Correct lie of club across fingers. Remember 

that club head is resting on ground . . 57 

Fig. 16. — The club should lie diagonally across fingers of 

left hand, not straight across ... 58 

Fig. 17. — One reason why golf comes easy for tennis players. 
The back-hand tennis stroke and back swing 
in golf have much in common • • ■ 59 

Fig. 18. — Fingers of the left hand should be well hidden . 60 

Fig. 19. — Addressing the ball with the natural grip . 62 

Fig. 20. — The square stance. The line of the toes is parallel 

with the flight of the ball .... 70 

Fig. 21. — The open stance. In this case the right foot is 

advanced slightly before the left . . .72 

Fig. 22. — Feet too close together. Result: topped ball . 79 

Fig. 23. — Feet too wide apart. Result: hitting the ground . 81 

Fig. 24. — Gauging correct distance from ball. The mini- 
mum and not the playing position ... 82 

Fig. 25. — Gauging correct distance from ball. The maxi- 
mum distance but not to be played . . 83 

Fig. 26. — Gauging correct distance from ball. Half-way 
between minimum and maximum. The correct 
playing position . . . ... .84 

Fig. 27. — Incorrect: rolling the forearms too soon . . 91 

12 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig. 28. — Rolling the forearms correctly , . -92 

Fig. 29. — It is a mistake to hold left arm doubled up and 

hands close to head as above • ■ • 93 

Fig. 30. — Left arm position shown above is too straight and 

rigid 94 

Fig. 31. — Correct position of the left arm. It should be 

neither too straight nor too much bent . . 97 

Fig. 32. — Left arm is way up too far and body is off balance 99 

Fig. 33. — The club as a pendulum. One of the first prin- 
ciples of how a golf ball is swept off the tee . 107 

Fig. 34. — Getting the knack of the swing without hitting 

the ball . . . . . .110 

Fig. 35. — Making the correct way a habit: the "shaving 

the mat " exercise . . . • . .112 

Fig. 36. — In this case the toe of the club is turned too much 

and the right elbow is raised up too far . . 119 

Fig. 37. — Two common faults are shown here. Left arm is 
doubled up and head of the club is not turned 
enough . . . .121 

Fig. 38. — Driving off in an indoor golf school. A door mat 

serves as an excellent tee . . . .123 

Fig. 39. — The putting green of an indoor golf school . . 124 

Fig. 40. — Where a beginner will learn golf more quickly 
than on the Jinks. A practice cage of cheap 
and simple construction . . . .125 

Fig. 41. — Wrong. When only a half a swing is wanted, 
there is a common tendency to swing back too 
far . . . . . . . .126 

Fig. 42. — Correct : How a half swing should look at the top . 128 

Fig. 43. — Top of the three-quarter swing .... 135 

13 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig. 44. — Finish of the three-quarter swing . . .136 

Fig. 45. — Second position in the mallet exercise. Imagine 

you are about to drive a peg into the ground . 138 

Fig. 46. — An instantaneous snapshot showing correct posi- 
tion at top of the swing . . . .139 

Fig. 47. — The correct finish of a full iron shot . . . 140 

Fig. 48. — Wrong. Head has moved off centre and thrown 

whole body out of balance . . .146 

Fig. 49. — Correct. Head is dead centre as at address and 

in perfect balance . . . . .148 

Fig. 50. — Turning the heel too far at top of swing. This 

throws one off balance . . .149 

Fig. 51. — The correct distance to turn heel at top of swing. 151 

Fig. 52. — It is wholly natural golf when all muscles of the 
body from toes to eyes move together in one 
direction . . . . . . .161 

Fig. 53. — The grip of this club shaft is of generous diameter. 
One is not tempted to grip hard in order to get a 
purchase . . .164 

Fig. 54. — An old cure for looking up too soon; keeping eyes 
fixed on spot from which ball has flown. Al- 
though unnatural, there is no harm in trying it 
now and then but don't allow it to become a 
habit . . . . . .171 

Fig. 55. — A cure for topping. Crumple up a piece of paper 
and lay it behind the ball. Drive the paper. 
You will hit the ball fair and square . -173 

Fig. 56. — Sometime examine the dotted round stamp made 
by the concussion of the ball. It is nearly as 
large as a half-dollar piece. See that your club 
head is large enough to accommodate it . .174 

Fig. 57. — The wrong way to finish the swing. Shoulders 

should be on same plane from address to finish . 175 

14 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Fi(i. 58. — The address of a mashie shot. Note heiglit of 

shoulder above, and in the photo which follows 176 

Fi(i. 59. — Finish of a mashie shot. Shoulder is same 

height as at address . . . . -177 

Fig. 60. — A cure for raising up. If the back swing is cor- 
rect", -the space between head and horizontal 
club will remain as shown in address . .182 

Fic. 61. — See ])reecding photo. The above is what often 
happens. The golfer has raised up and knows 
it when head meets club . . -183 

Fig. 62. — The body should pivot on a dead centre through- 
out the entire swing. Club held vertically in 
photo represents centre line at address. The 
golfer has swayed to the right and is oflf balance 1 85 

Fig. 63. — In this case the golfer has pivoted on a dead centre 

as noted by position of club to the rear . .186 

Fig. 64. — If heeling the ball is your fault, try addressing it 

with the toe of the club . . .189 

Fig. 65. — Turning the club head is a common way to spoil 
a mashie shot. Club shown at the right has a 
turned face; that to the left is correct . .190 

Fig. 66. — Showing a number of golfing faults. vSeveral 
different sets of muscles in the body are in ac- 
tive conflict with each other . .199 

Fig. 67. — A demonstration of the common fault of mis- 
timing. The hub and rim of the wheel fail to 
travel together . . . . .201 

Fig. 68. — Correct timing. The hub and rim spin in har- 
mony ........ 202 

Fig. 69. — A grip that will slice the ball .... 208 

Fig. 70. — A grip that will hook the ball .... 209 

Fig. 71. — The slicer's left-hand grip . . , .210 

Fig. 72. — The puller's left-hand grip . . . .211 

15 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig. 73. — Finish of a slice . . . . . .213 

Fig. 74. — Finish of a hook . . . . . .214 

Fig. 75. — The way to finish without shcing or hooking 216 

Fig. 76. — A cure for heehng. Drive the near ball without 

disturbing the other ..... 223 

Fig. 77. — Keeping down the elbow l)y the aid of a liandker- 

chief in the armpit ..... 225 

Fig. 78. — Hit both l)alls on the same shot. This will make 

you follow through . ._ . 227 

Fig. 79. — Good putting ])ractice. Lay about a lialf dozen 

l)alls around the cup ..... 233 

Fig. 80. — Military stance. Heels together, legs straight, 
toes parallel with line of hole, and head directly 
over ball ....... 235 

Fig. 81. — Orthodo.\ stance. Right foot is advanced, right 
shoulder depressed and greater part of body 
weight is on the right leg .... 237 



Fig. H2. — -Crouching stance. Much like orthodox stance, 
except that right arm rests on leg and club is 
held .short ....... 



239 



16 



TALK I 
PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 



17 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 



TALK I 

PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 

Have you ever seen a carpenter buy a new 
plane? Ever noticed how finicky he is about 
it? He balances and sights it for a long time 
before he makes up his mind that it is all right ; 
and then perhaps he suddenly decides that it 
won't do. The plane may be a perfect piece 
of workmanship, but it has just fallen short 
of the final test in the hands of the good work- 
man. It has failed to strike a certain respon- 
sive chord in his make-up. With this last 
word of co-operation between tool and man 
lacking, the carpenter knows that with this 

19 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

particular plane he will never be able to turn 
out the best work of which he is capable. 

''Where's the connection between carpenters 
tools and golf clubs?'' queried the intervieiving 
golf pupil. 

Just this: exactly the same lesson of good 
workmanship can be applied to the selection of 
golf clubs. Consider well the tools of the 
game. Do not imderestimate the importance 
of having the right clubs in your golf bag. 
Even the best player cannot put up the best 
game of which he is capable unless his clubs 
suit him to a T; although of course the clubs 
themselves may be perfect and another man 
will make championship play with them. And 
if a good player is set off his base by the wrong 
clubs, you can imagine the havoc they work 
with the beginner's game. 

This matter of suitable clubs is something 
about which most golfers go wrong at one time 
or other. The unfortunate part of it is that 
most of the new men at the game start wrong, 
and then stay wrong. Perhaps after you have 
learned to play the game just passably well 

20 



PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 

with entirely unsuitable clubs, some kind friend 
politely asks if the shaft of your midiron isn't a 
trifle long for a man of your medium height; 
with the result that you switch to a club that 
you should have been playing with right along. 
But does your game improve? Not much. 
It probably goes from bad to worse, the reason 
being that you have learned with the wrong 
club, become accustomed to it, and now can't 
play with the right one. 

This talk about playing with the wrong clubs 
cheered the listener up quite a hit. It was some- 
thing tangible upon which he could place the 
blame for a distinctly mediocre game. 

The surest word of advice I can give a 
beginner is to start with the right clubs. This 
eliminates one big obstacle at one fell swoop. 
Even though the game comes a little slowly 
he knows at any rate that his clubs are right 
and he can devote his time to other worries. 
For a perfect jumble of misfits I commend you 
to the golf bag of almost any beginner. Yes, 
and old timers at the game, too. 

You will often find a large-headed brassie of 

21 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

flat lie in the same bag with a small -headed 
driver of medium lie. They haven't any more 




Fig. I 

A brassie and driver that fight with each 

other. One is small-headed, the other 

large-headed, and the lies are different. 

Don't allow them in the same bag 



business being together than a cricket bat in 
a baseball outfit. Sometimes the clubs in a 
golf bag fairly fight with one another (Fig. i). 



22 



PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 

As a matter of fact, a set of golf clubs should 
be one harmonious family. They should all 
liave something in common and not be of en- 
tirely different natures. I even recommend 
that all the iron clubs in a bag be the product 
of one manufacturer for then you are fairly 
sure of uniformity of construction. 

Go through your bag on the lookout for a 
club that is the least bit out of kilter with the 
rest of your club family, a discordant note. 
Throw out any disturber of the family concert, 
even though you may look upon the discordant 
one as a favourite child. 

This was too much. Throw away a favourite 
club indeed! Where ivas the mans heart? 
And come to thijik of it, there was a certain 
mashie in the interviewer s hag that didn't just 
seem to belong. 

I say get rid of the discordant club, for it is 
breaking the rhythm. Likely enough it is 
throwing you off your game. 

Just to show how beginners get started on 
the wrong track, let me mention the case of a 
man who came to me to take lessons not long 

23 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

ago. After deciding to learn the game, this 
busy business man sent his wife to a sporting 
goods store with a carte hlanche order for a set 
of clubs. She did the selecting. And as he 
was a six footer and she a mite of a woman, 
you can well imagine the incongruous result. 

In contrast to this, I remember another man 
who took just one lesson with me. He didn't 
touch the ball once, but instead spent the 
whole time selecting suitable clubs. He was 
a wise man. 

Sometimes, I think it would be a good thing 
for a man to learn golf without any clubs at 
all — if such a thing were possible. Certainly 
his judgment after he has mastered the golf 
swing is vastly different from what it was be- 
fore. Once he has decided to take up golf, 
he should have someone who knows the 
game thoroughly pick out his set for him 
(Fig. 2). 

Failing this, he would do well to confine his 
first selection to four clubs: spoon, midiron, 
mashie, and putter (Fig. 3). These four will 
carry him through the first season very nicely. 

24 



PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 

The following season he will be able to tackle 
the rest of the set more intelligently. 

At this point the pupil confessed to a stupen- 




Fig. 2 

A complete set of clubs. Left to right: 

Driver, brassie, spoon, driving iron, 

midiron, mashie, niblick, putter 



doiis amount of ignorance as to just how he would 
go about it to select a suitable set of clubs. 

First, there is the question of balance. 
Everybody wants a well balanced club, but 
not everybody recognizes one. Some people 

25 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

are what is known as "susceptible to balance." 
They can pick up a golf club and even though 
they have never had one in their hands before, 




Fig. 3 

The clubs that will start you upon 
your golfing career. Unless you 
wish to look and feel real jaunty, 
these are plenty. Left to right: 
spoon, midiron, mashie, putter 

they instinctively know that it is well balanced. 
A poorly balanced club will be to them as a 
discord is to an accomplished singer. No 
general rule can be laid down as to how to 
pick out good balance, although nearly any- 

26 



PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 

body can instinctively tell extreme instances of 
off-balance (Fig. 4). 

Have you ever thought of your height in 




Fig. 4 

In case you are instinctively susceptible to 

balance, this test will tell you some of the 

secrets of club balance 



exact terms of feet and inches? This is an 
important item in selecting a club. There 
are three different lies in clubs; flat, medium, 

27 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

and upright. All the clubs in your bag should 
be confined to just one of these lies. The flat 




Fig. 5 

One of these clubs is yours — but only one. 

The three lies of wooden clubs; upright, 

medium, and flat 

is for people below five feet five inches: the 
medium, from there up to five feet ten inches; 
the upright, for still taller golfers (Fig. 5). 

28 



PICKING THE RIGHT CLUBS 

You can classify the clubs' three degrees of 
whippiness in much the same way. These are 
stiff, medium, and springy. If you have 




Fig. 6 

A brassie and driver 

that thorouyhly agree 

with each other. Same 

length shait, same 

sized head 

lived a rigorous outdoor life and are something 
of a hercules, the stiff club is the one for you. 
If you are only fairly strong, you had better 
stick to the medium. If something below 
fairly strong, use the springy. 

29 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

This same scale applies to the three weights 
in a club — heavy, medium, and light. The 
standard clubs are those of medium lie, length, 
and weight. 

Finally, a word about the hitting surface of 
the club head. Be sure that this is fairly large. 
The importance of this is rather generally 
overlooked. When you drive a ball, how big a 
surface do you suppose the ball covers on the 
club head surface at the moment of impact? 

''Oh, about as large as your small finger nail,'' 
guessed the interviewer. Whereupon Du7in let 
drive a mashie shot and then held up as proof the 
dotted round stamp of the hall which had 
remained on the blade. It was larger than a 
twenty -five cent piece and just a trifie smaller 
than a half dollar. 

That's what the concussion of the ball does. 
The head of your club should be large enough 
to take all that in, with something to spare. 
With half the ball on the head and half off 
you are not getting the distance to which you 
are entitled. 



30 



TALK II 
LEARNING THE GOLF SCALE 



31 



TALK II 

LEARNING THE GOLF SCALE 

You may remember that when we were 
talking about selecting the right golf clubs I 
said it would be a good thing if a beginner 
could learn the game without any clubs at all. 
Sounds physically impossible, doesn't it? 
Well, as a matter of fact you can travel a long 
way toward the goal of successful golf without 
ever laying hands on a club. 

This was a poser. Evidently Dunn was 
about to spring something brand new in golf. 
It sounded interesti?tg. 

For some unexplainable reason, most begin- 
ners at golf start in by cramming their heads 
full of technicalities that are all Greek to them. 
They foolishly think that this is the way to 
learn golf. And the harder they cram, the less 
progress they make. 

3 33 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

The thing with which the beginner should 
really start is the golf scale. He should at 
first give all his thought to this, just as the 
aspiring singer confines his voice to the C D E 
F G of music. You can practise this golf scale 
without a club in your hand or moving from 
where you are standing. About the only 
necessary equipment is perseverance. 

I see that you expect to hear of some great 
mystery. Nothing like it; just a few simple 
exercises that any one can practise when he 
jumps out of bed in the morning. Fifteen 
minutes a day of conscientious work will make 
you a very fair golfer before you have ever 
stepped upon a links. 

Frankly, morning exercises failed to appeal, 
and the interviewer advised Dunn accordingly . 
Years before he had for a time diligently practised 
some sort of calisthenics. Bnt there had come a 
morning when it had all seemed so confoundedly 
futile. Result — no more exercises. 

You are quite right. An incentive is what 
is needed. Any kind of exercises aren't much 
value without one. But in the particular 

34 




Fig. 7 

First position in the pivot exercise. This cor- 
responds to the golf address 



35 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

exercises I am going to tell you about, there is 
a perfectly bona fide incentive; and that is, 
good golf. Incidentally, and leaving golf out 
of it entirely, these exercises will do any one a 
world of good physically — but you can forget 
about that, if it worries you. Just remember, 
good golf ; that is incentive enough for any one 
who wants to learn the game. 

Now to get down to brass tacks. Stand 
with your legs spread apart — not too wide, just 
comfortably; remember you are not a contor- 
tionist. Have your toes in line and then lay a 
golf club on the floor in front of you, at right 
angles to this line. You are standing directly 
over the grip ; the club head is away. If you 
haven't acquired a golf club yet, a walking 
stick or umbrella will answer the purpose as 
well (Fig. 7). 

You are set for your exercise. First of all, 
stare the club head out of countenance and 
continue to do so through all that happens 
from then on. Place your hands on your hips 
and bend slightly forward. Keep the stomach 
well in, and without raising up from the bent 

36 




Fig. 8 

Second position in the pivot exercise. The top 
of the swing 



37 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

position, pivot around to the right until the 
left hip and elbow are in line with the club 
(Fig. 8). 

While doing this pivot movement, don't 
let the body carry your head around to the 
right with it. Keep your head facing forward 
and perfectly rigid. And keep your eyes 
glued on the club head. Also, as you swing 
around, the left knee should bend in a trifle to 
the right, and toward the end of the swing the 
right knee becomes almost rigid. 

Now for the final movement in this exercise. 
From your wound-up position, swing the body 
completely around to the left so that you 
finish with the right hip and elbow on line with 
the club (Fig. 9). And you can speed this 
final swing up as fast as you wish. During its 
course the right knee bends in a little to the 
left while the left knee in turn becomes almost 
rigid. Remember at all times of the proceed- 
ing to keep the stomach in, eyes on the ball, 
body slightly bent, and head in the same rigid 
position. 

The victim, somewhat puzzled, ivanted to know 

38 




Fig. 9 

Third position in the pivot exercise. Finish of 
the swing 



39 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

the precise reasons for all that had just happened. 
He couldn't recall anything of the kind in the 
little paper-covered morning exercise hooks of 
former years. 

In bending over slightly and keeping the 
stomach in you bring into play the muscles 
used in the golf stroke. And likely enough 
they are muscles that haven't been exercised 
for a blue moon ; no need for so many fat men 
in the world if these stomach muscles were 
exercised more. As for keeping your eye on 
the club head, this is the best possible training 
for keeping your eye on the ball. 

Your first position in the exercise is the golf 
address; the second the top of the swing and 
the third the finish. The hand on the hip, 
bringing the elbow on line with the club on 
the floor, marks the distance one should pivot 
around in the golf swing. 

Go through these clubless swings about ten 
times without letting up. Then gradually 
increase the count and before you know it you 
will be in prime shape for the game itself. 
Doesn't this sound like good sense? 

40 




Fig. io 

First movement in the balance exercise 



41 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

The pupil agreed. After some minutes of 
the prescribed exercise it suddenly dawned upon 
him that the body played a greater part in the golf 
swing than he had ever before realized. 

You can't rely upon your arms and hands to 
do all the work in golf. They are only a small 
part of the real propelling power. It's getting 
the body muscles into it that counts; the 
same solid muscles of the back, thighs, and 
shoulders that make the oarsman and boxer. 

Speaking of boxing, here's another valuable 
exercise. We'll do a little shadow fighting. 
Take the same position as before, but hold 
your right arm out in front of you with the 
fist loosely clenched. 

Pivot the body around to the right until the 
outstretched moving arm is behind. Then 
swing the arm around furiously to the first 
position — just as if you were in a real boxing 
match. Somewhere between the start of the 
forward swing and the first position, the fist 
instinctively doubles up and just the muscles 
you need to wipe up your man get into play. 
It's the same way when you hit a golf ball. 

42 




Fig. II 

Second movement in the balance exercise 



43 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

The interviewing pupil had knocked out a 
whole row of imaginary adversaries before Dunn 
called a halt to take up the matter of balance in golf. 

Now for a balance exercise. Assume the 
same bent position as before. Take a golf 
club or walking stick and hold one end between 
thumb and forefinger against your forehead. 
See that the lower end, w^hich is the club head, 
hangs over a golf ball or some mark on the 
floor (Fig. lo). Pivot to the right (Fig. ii) 
and then around to the left (Fig. 12). And 
keep on going back and forth. Only be sure 
that the club doesn't move while you are 
doing it. 

Although the interviewer tried faithfidly 
enough, the club moved like a saplifig in a high 
wind. 

Not so easy as it looks, is it? But body 
balance is absolutely essential to good golf. 
Any sway in the club in that exercise is proof 
that your body is off balance. Do everything 
a good golfer does in a swing and it won't 
sway. In short, keep your head still, stomach 
in, body slightly bent, and eye on the ball. 

44 




Fig. 12 

Third movement in the balance exercise 



45 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

The direction of the sway of the club in this 
exercise is a telltale of your particular fault. 
If it moves away and to the right, you may 
know that your stomach is out. In case you 
raise your body, the club will swing toward 
you. 

Practise the three exercises I have men- 
tioned. They'll keep you busy for some time. 
I'll give you more later on. 



46 



TALK III 
THE GOLF GRIP 



47 



TALK III 



THE GOLF GRIP 



Certain moveraents in the game of golf are 
fundamental. There is not any middle course 
about these — a thing is either right or it is 
wrong. There are other parts of the game 
however in which it doesn't make a great deal 
of difference how you go about it ; provided of 
course that the underlying principle of the 
particular movement is sound. In other 
words, the game may be pretty well divided 
into essentials and non-essentials. Among 
the non-essentials is the golf grip. It is not 
absolutely necessary to use any one particular 
grip. You can take your pick of several and 
still play very fair golf. 

''What is the best grip?'' 

I'd like to have you figure that out for your- 
4 49 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

self. And remember this ; while there may be 
several good ways, there is usually a better 
way. I'll first name a grip that is not even 
a good way. This is the cross-handle grip. 
With this, the left hand is below the right in 
grasping the club. There are other freak 
grips of this sort which you would do best 
not to bother your head about. They only 
complicate matters. All the accepted grips 
which are basically correct fall into two 
classes; these are the V or natural grip, and 
the overlapping grip. There are certain vari- 
ations in the overlapping. You'll play good 
golf with either of these two classes of grips. 
But I'll presently give you my reasons for 
believing that one is the best. In the over- 
lapping grip, more often known as the Vardon 
grip, the left thumb lies down the shaft of the 
club, while the little finger of the right hand 
rests upon the forefinger of the left hand. As 
the name implies, the two hands overlap. In 
the V grip, the two hands come together on 
the club handle but there is no overlapping 

(Figs. 13-14)- 

50 



THE GOLF GRIP 

'' Vve heard that the wrists work better in 
unison y in the overlapping grip.'' 




Fig. 13 

The V or natural grip. Just as if you were grasp- 
ing a baseball bat 



Why should we want unison when as every- 
body knows, the right hand does most of the 
work? A better plan would be to strengthen 

51 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

up the left hand so that it would do its own 
share. I am free to say that I do not consider 




Fig. 14 

The overlapping or Vardon grip. Note little 
finger of right hand overlapping forefinger of left 



the Vardon overlapping grip the best. That is 
especially true for people just starting out 
with golf. Of course with players like Vardon 

52 



THE GOLF GRIP 

and Braid the muscles are thoroughly under 
control and everything runs as smooth as 
machinery. But with a new man it's differ- 
ent. The overlapping grip seriously compli- 
cates the back swing of the aspiring golfer. 
As an instructor, I see this constantly. I'm 
against anything that doesn't make the road 
as simple as possible. 

''/ like the overlappi7ig grip,'' intruded the 
interviewer . 

Mark you, I don't say that the Vardon over- 
lapping grip is not a good grip. I only say 
there is a better one; that is the natural grip. 
If you have learned the Vardon grip and like 
it, there is no particular reason why you 
shouldn't continue with it, especially so if it 
has become a habit. I never ask a man to 
change his grip. I simply put the case up to 
him and he can suit himself. You say that in 
your particular instance you have used the 
Vardon grip but think a good deal about the 
position of your fingers when you grip a club. 
That's a pretty sure sign that the Vardon grip 
hasn't become a habit with you. Otherwise 

53 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

you wouldn't give the fingers a thought. If it 
suits you to change your grip, I'd say you 
could do so without hurting your game. 

Another thing, a man who plays with the 
overlapping grip right along, usually carries 
around with him a mean sore on the knuckle of 
his left forefinger. Some time ago I attended 
a tournament and just after the contenders 
finished driving off the final tee a newspaper 
man asked me to name the most significant 
thing I saw. I told him the thing that 
impressed me most was the fact that every 
man but one was wearing a piece of tape on 
the knuckle of his left forefinger — the unfailing 
sign of overlapping. It happened also that 
the winner of the tournament was using the 
natural grip. 

'' Vardon s a pretty fair golfer. And besides, 
a lot of other first string men use his grip^'' 
hazarded the pupil. 

Just the point I want to make. Vardon 
would be a supremely fine golfer however he 
played. And just because he is a bit eccentric 
about his grip, people think it's the grip that's 

54 



THE GOLF GRIP 

playing the game, when in reaHty it is Vardon. 
You may name to me a Hst of champions that 
use the Vardon grip but I will come right back 
at you with as equally a creditable list that 
use the natural grip. For example, Ball, 
Hilton, Evans, and Dauge. Hilton used the 
overlapping for a time but finally discarded it 
because he found that he could get better dis- 
tance with the natural . As for Dauge, sufiicient 
to say that this Frenchman is probably the 
longest driver in the world; what is more, the 
amateur championship of the United States has 
never been won with the overlapping grip. 

Perhaps you think I am saying a good deal 
about this grip which I don't favour very 
strongly and not enough about one that I do. 
I am doing so with a distinct purpose. The 
Vardon grip has been copied and talked about 
so extensively that a lot of people think it's 
the only one in existence. It is not my inten- 
tion to criticize it too severel}'. I merely 
want to make plain some facts that you do not 
usually hear about, so that you will know all 
sides of the case. 

55 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKb 

As to my reasons for favouring the natural 
grip, I like it first of all because it is natural. 
Every movement in golf should first, last, and 
all time be natural. When a beginner at golf 
starts with the natural grip, the game auto- 
matically becomes a continuation of something 
he has done before. Most men have played 
baseball or chopped down a tree. The funda- 
mentals of the V grip are the same. When a 
man grasps a golf club in the same way he has 
handled a baseball bat or axe he immediately 
feels at home. That means he will make 
much faster progress than he would if he tried 
to master the intricacies of a grip entirely 
foreign to those former actions. You can't 
exactly visualize a woodsman using the over- 
lapping grip to cut down a tree can you? Nor 
can I visualize a golfer who takes to the game 
naturally using anything other than the natural 
grip — or in other words, the woodsman's grip. 

Let me repeat : if you have become used to 
the overlapping grip and like it, you can stick 
to it. But just for fun, try out the natural 
grip. It will feel a little awkward at first, 

56 



THE GOLF GRIP 

after the overlapping grip which you have 
been using; but you'll probably soon get 
accustomed to it and then won't want to go 




Fig. 15 

Correct lie of club across fingers. Remember that 
club head is resting on ground 



back to the overlapping. Grasp the club as if 
it were a baseball bat. That gives you the 
general principle of the V grip. But at the 
same time, you must remember that there is 

57 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

this difference between baseball and golf: in 
one case you are hitting the ball waist high 
and in the other on the ground. The head of 
the golf club is resting on the ground and that 
means that you can't grip it straight across the 




Fig. 1 6 

The club should lie diagonally across fingers of 
left hand, not straight across 



palms (Fig. 15). It's a mistake that a good 
many beginners make. The club should be 
lying diagonally across the fingers (Fig. 16). 
Furthermore, your hands should be relaxed. 

You want to get as much power into your 
stroke as possible. You've no idea what a 

58 




Fig. 17 

One reason why golf comes easy for tennis players. 

The back-hand tennis stroke and back swing in 

golf have much in common 



59 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

difference the position of the left hand on the 
club makes. Just address the ball, please, and 
hold that position. 

The interviewer followed instructions. 




Fig. 1 8 

Fingers of the left hand should be well hidden 

You will notice that the fingers of your left 
hand are staring you in the face. Remember 
that the sweep of the left hand in the golf 
swing is like aback -hand tennis stroke (Fig. 1 7) . 

60 



THE GOLF GRIP 

This fact makes the position of your fingers an 
important item. You will not get the maxi- 
mum power to your stroke by gripping the club 
as you are now doing. Just as an experiment, 
keep your left hand on the club and take the 
right entirely away. Now swing the club 
towards my shins as if you were going to 
lambaste me ; or as if you were going through a 
back-hand stroke in tennis. That done, go 
through the same motion again — only before 
you do it the second time, move the position of 
your hand so that the fingers are hidden (Fig. 
i8). Do you notice any difference in sense of 
power between those two strokes? 

Unquestionahly there were much greater possi- 
bilities with the stroke in which the fingers were 
hidden. 

Always remember that — fingers of left hand 
hidden. It will save you a lot of trouble and 
give you a powerful stroke. To sum up the 
position of the two hands on the grip: the left 
hand should loosely cover the shaft with the 
thumb coiled underneath and the fingers out 
of sight. The right hand now : the back of the 

6i 




Fig. 19 

Addressing the ball with the natural grip 



62 



THE GOLF GRIP 

hand should be far enough under the shaft so 
that the fingers are half-way visible. The 
thumb should be coiled around the shaft as in 
the case of the left hand. The two hands 
should be close together (Fig. 19). 



63 



TALK IV 
THE GOLF STANCE 



65 



TALK IV 



THE GOLF STANCE 



Before we tackle some of the really vital 
things in golf, it is just as well to become 
famiHar with those parts of the game that 
do not matter tremendously. Most begin- 
ners at golf are lacking in a sense of proportion ; 
they fail to see the difference between the 
important and unimportant movements in the 
game and it often takes some time for them to 
develop this. They make much faster pro- 
gress just as soon as they do and then devote 
their entire attention to the vital things. 

The other day I spoke of the essentials and 
non-essentials of golf in relation to the golf 
grip. Although I recommended the natural 
grip, I said that there were several others from 
which a man could take his pick and still play 

67 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

very fair golf. There's no arduous training 
required in learning a grip; you simply pick 
out the particular one you want and then 
dismiss it as an accomplished fact. 

Now comes the stance — the position of your 
feet at the moment when you are ready to 
drive the ball. Volumes have been written 
about the stance. Different and devious are 
the ways which are recommended. The 
beginner is told to stand now one way, now 
another, if he expects to connect with the ball. 
If the truth of the matter be known, the 
stance is in the same class with the grip ; it is a 
non-essential. You'll play good golf what- 
ever the position of your feet, so long as your 
particular style isn't too extreme. 

Strange words. The interviewer like most of 
his golfing kind had always looked upon the 
stance as a thing of vital importance. 

Like the grip, the stance is a good deal the 
slave of fashion. A good player starts some- 
thing different and t*he whole world follows 
suit. This sort of thing is rather hard on 
beginners for they usually copy the particular 

68 



THE GOLF STANCE 

non-essential that happens to be in vogue at 
the time, under the impression that it is the 
only possible grip or stance allowed by the 
rules of the game. Follow the dictates of 
fashion for the stance covering a number of 
years and your right foot will slowly but surely 
describe an arc that doesn't fall so very short 
of being a semicircle. One year it's the 
square stance; that is, so that the line of the 
toes is parallel with the flight of the ball 
(Fig. 20). Again it may be the open stance; 
in this case, the right foot is advanced slightly 
before the left (Fig. 21). Another time it is 
the closed stance ; the right foot is drawn back 
from the square stance line. You can play 
good golf in any of these three positions or 
their variations. 

** IsnH there a best way?'' 

The square stance is in many respects the 
most natural way. I'll give you my reasons 
for saying this. To get away from golf for a 
moment, suppose that you were to make a 
pendulum out of a piece of string and a key. 
Then you were to hold the string in your right 

69 



.>««i*| 




Flu. 2U 

The square stance. The line of the toes is 
parallel with the flight of the ball 



70 



THE GOLF STANCE 

hand and swing the key over a certain spot in 
the carpet. I think that if you were to ex- 
amine the position of your feet you would find 
them parallel to the swing of the pendulum. 
Applying this example to golf, the spot in the 
carpet becomes the ball, and the key at the 
bottom of the string, the head of the golf club. 
The club head is to all intents a swinging 
pendulum. 

In the case of the open versus the square 
stance, consider the baseball player. When 
the batter wishes to get an extra long ball he 
does not put his right foot forward. Then 
why should the golfer? In doing so there is 
a tendency to interfere with pivoting. Then 
too, one is liable to slice with the open stance. 
Slicing is a modern disease and dates from the 
introduction of this stance. The natural 
tendency when driving is to swing the club 
parallel to the feet. When you are standing 
at an a,ngle other than a right angle to the line 
of flight a slice or pull often results. 

The square stance is a position of parallel 
lines and right angles. This is just the way 

71 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

we naturally see and do most things in life. 
We think continually in terms of right angles 




Fig. 21 

The open stance. In this case the right foot is 
advanced slightlj' before the left 



and parallel lines. We row a boat, drive a 
motor car, or ride a horse at right angles. We 
live in right-angled houses and walk down 
parallel and right-angled streets. Just look 

72 



THE GOLF STANCE 

at that picture hanging there on the wall. It 
is a series of right angles and here we are 
admiring it from a parallel line. 

But I'm making no fast rule about this 
concerning the golf stance. In fact this is the 
very thing I'm trying to overcome. All people 
are not alike physically. A man may feel 
more at home using the open stance than the 
square. Then why on earth force something 
that is unnatural to him down his throat? 
Yet it is often done. When a beginner at 
golf comes to me I usually ask him to try out 
the square stance because it is generally the 
natural way. But if it feels unnatural to 
him, I let him change to whatever position 
suits him best. He himself is the only one 
who can solve that problem. 

''Doesnt a man shift his stance more or less 
for differ 672 1 kinds of shots?'' 

Very often. Even when a man is a strong 
adherent to the square or any other stance he 
seldom lives up to it consistently in a round of 
golf. Here his right foot is square, again it is 
advanced. He isn't giving any thought to the 

73 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

position of his feet; he is moving them to a 
certain position instinctively. That is just as 
it should be. Throw set rules regarding the 
stance to the winds and be natural. 



74 



TALK V 
THE GOLF ADDRESS 



75 



TALK V 



THE GOLF ADDRESS 



How should a golfer look to you when he 
addresses the ball; at the moment when he is 
ready for the back swing? In simple terms, he 
should look as though he was about to connect 
squarely with the ball and send it on a straight 
line down the course. In case his expectations 
and your own come to naught, perhaps a single 
fault may be held accountable for the slip up. 
The fault may be in the swing. And then 
again it may be in the address: before he has 
got under way. 

In our last talk I spoke of the position of the 
feet in the golf address. The three different 
kinds of stance were explained — open, square, 
and closed. While I said that personally I 
favoured the square stance in most cases, at the 

11 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

same time I advised the use of the one that 
felt most natural to the golfer. First, last, 
and all time he should think of the simple and 
natural in golf. 

Right here, I would like to add that there 
are a lot of very simple things in golf that have 
been made needlessly difficult for the beginner. 
Certain golfing terms are among these. While 
the meaning of ''square" in relation to the 
stance is self-evident, that of ''open" and 
"closed" are quite confusing to the aspiring 
golfer. The names fail to explain anything. 
Sometimes I say to a pupil, "You are standing 
too open." Whereupon he proceeds to draw 
his feet together. What I mean to convey is 
that his right foot is advanced too far beyond 
his left. His feet have been the right distance 
apart; but it is quite natural that he should 
misunderstand me. These confusing terms of 
such general acceptance should be changed. 
' ' How far apart should the feet he?'' 
Here again, the answer is: be natural. 
Remember your own height and comfort and 
act accordingly. No golf efficiency engineer 

78 




Fig. 22 

Feet too close together. Result : topped ball 



79 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

can tell you these things; although many will 
try. If you stand with the legs too close 
together, you will be unable to keep your bal- 
ance in the swing and also probably top the 
ball. In case your legs are too wide apart, 
you'll probably find it too hard to pivot and 
also very likely will connect with the ground 
instead of the ball. It's up to yourself to find 
the happy medium somewhere between these 
extremes (Figs. 22-23). 

The same way about distance to stand from 
the ball . Nobody can make any set rule about 
this. All people aren't built alike. Just 
leave enough leeway so that you can swing 
comfortably and no more, although I can tell 
you of a more or less mechanical way of gaug- 
ing the distance to suit your own build. 

''How do you go about it?'' 

Stand with your feet apart as in the stance 
and rest the shaft of the club on the right leg 
so that the sole of the club head is flatly on the 
ground. Make footprints where you are 
standing and then step forward and place a 
ball in front of the centre of the club head. 

80 




Fig. 23 

Feet too wide apart. Result: hitting the ground 



81 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

This represents the minimum distance from 
the ball and not the playing position. Now 




Fig. 24 

Gauging correct distance from ball. The min- 
imum and not the playing position 



step back to your original footprints. Grip 
the club, bend over the same as in previous 
address and extend the arms as far as you can. 

82 



THE GOLF ADDRESS 

This gives the maximum distance and Hke- 
wise not the position from which the ball 




Gauging correct distance from ball. The maxi- 
mum distance but not to be played 



should be played. However, place another 
ball in front of the club head just the same. 
Half-way between these two balls is the nat- 

83 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

ural playing position from your footprints 
(Figs. 24-25-26). 




Fig. 26 

Gauging correct distance from ball. Half-way 

between minimum and maximum. The correct 

playing position 

' ' What should be the playing position of the 
hall?'' 

The point of impact between the ball and 
the club head should be on a line half-way 

84 



THE GOLF ADDRESS 

between your feet. Of course this brings the 
ball itself a trifle left of centre. This may 
sound like splitting hairs, but just the same 
it is worth remembering; otherwise, the 
chances are that you will often place the ball 
well to the right of centre. In such cases 
there is a tendency to chop down upon the 
ball; you fail to get in a clean sweep away 
from you. As a result of this placing the ball 
too far to the right, it is very liable to roll 
along the ground. 

' ' How about the positio7t of the hands and club ?'' 
Of course your right hand is below the left 
on the club shaft and this naturally brings the 
right shoulder down to accommodate it. This 
also throws the greater part of your weight 
upon the right leg. You are now addressing 
the ball. See that your hands are relaxed; 
barely more than holding the club. Most 
beginners make the mistake of not only 
squeezing the club for dear life, but also mak- 
ing all sorts of facial grimaces in the bargain. 
If you have this fault, just think of a person 
learning to drive a motor car. In his first 

85 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

ride, he grips the steering wheel with the same 
ferociousness that you do the golf club. But 
later on he eases up gradually and ends up by 
hardly touching the wheel when he steers. 

Another common fault in the golf address is 
that of holding the club shaft over the left or 
right leg instead of directly in the centre. The 
club should be in line with the buttons of your 
coat. As you stand ready in the address, run 
your eye down the buttons of your vest, once 
and awhile, and see if the club is in line. 

Finally, before starting the back swing, be 
sure that the toe of the club head is not tilting 
up in the air. See that the under side is 
resting evenly on the ground. 



86 



TALK VI 
SOME GOLF FAULTS 



87 



TALK VI 



SOME GOLF FAULTS 



The boy is a natural athlete. If you want 
to see an exhibition of golfing form that is 
practically flawless, ask a ten-year-old caddy 
boy to drive off. The chances are that he 
plays golf just as it should be played; nat- 
urally, without the slightest evidence of self- 
consciousness. Even though he drops the 
game for a few years he will never entirely 
forget how to play. 

Grown men, taking up golf for the first time, 
are up against a harder proposition. Physi- 
cally, they have got into all manner of bad 
ways since their boyhood days. Muscles have 
become set in unnatural directions. The golf 
instructor's job is to wipe out the years and 
make these grown men, boys again. If it 

89 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

happens that the beginner has gone in exten- 
sively for tennis or other sports, the task is 
often a comparatively simple one. 

Natural aptitude for golf may come through 
having excelled at other ball games. As an 
example of this I might mention the case of an 
expert tennis player who came to me for golf 
instruction a short time ago. This man had 
never had a golf club in his hands before. 
Yet in only two or three lessons, his golf swing 
was nearly perfect. The tennis playing, of 
course, had kept his muscles and mental atti- 
tude toward a game just as they should be and 
gave him golf sense. 

The man who has never gone in for other 
forms of sport has a distinctly harder row to 
hoe, when he takes up golf. But that is no 
reason why he shouldn't develop into as good 
a player as the other man, even though it does 
take him longer. If he keeps at it, he will 
arrive at golfing success. 

* ' / know men who have tried to learn golf and 
given it up as impossible.'' 

Anybody, I don't care who he is, can learn 

90 



SOME GOLF FAULTS 

how to play golf. Of course, I don't mean 
that everybody can develop into an expert. 







Incorrect: roUincr the forearms too soon 



What I do say, however, is that anyone can 
become proficient enough so that he thor- 

91 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

oughly enjoys playing golf. It is not a game 
which is impossible for some people, as is 
sometimes said. 




jeiG. 2 8 

Rolling the forearms correctly 



Let the beginner who loses confidence and 
is about ready to give the game up, take this 
to heart. The name of this beginner's golfing 
faults may be legion ; but that need not bother 

92 



SOME GOLF FAULTS 

him. There is not a fault in the game of golf, 
which is not curable. His limit may be a half 
swing with a midiron, but even then that can 




Fig. 29 

It is a mistake to hold left arm doubled up and 
hands close to head as above 



be quite well worth while. It is a clever man 
who knows his limitations. 

What are some of the most common faults of 
beginners ? ' ' 

The list would be a long one. Just to name 
a few, I might mention: rolling the forearms 
too soon on the back swing (Fig. 2y) ; hold- 

93 




'5) 



c 

4-> 

ba 



94 



SOME GOLF FAULTS 

ing the left arm either doubled up (Fig. 29) 
or too rigid (Fig. 30) in the back swing; right 
elbow way up in the air at top of swing (Fig. 
32); turning the left foot too soon; body off- 
balance (Fig. s^); raising up the body; head 
cocked over on left shoulder at top of swing in- 
stead of in dead centre. So it goes. 

But I repeat, there is not one of these faults 
that cannot be cured. In some cases it takes 
longer than others. Much depends upon the 
interest and perseverance of the aspiring 
golfer; a great deal upon the instructor. A 
boy can learn by imitation, but a grown man 
analyzes things and has to know the reasons 
for making certain motions in specified ways. 
Just as soon as he understands the whys and 
wherefores of these motions, he goes ahead and 
performs them more naturally. 

So it's a good deal up to the beginner to fire 
away with questions; the more the merrier. 
Besides this, it's a sign that he is genuinely 
interested, all of which puts the instructor 
upon his mettle, and he in turn becomes inter- 
ested in making an especially superior golfer 

95 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

out of that particular pupiL Don't do any- 
thing without a good reason, because other- 
wise you will do it against your will. 

''Don't the methods of some of the various golf 
instructors vary?'' 

Unfortunately, they do. In fact, I know of 
certain cases where beginners have been 
taught absolutely false golf. You've no idea 
how great a handicap this is to a beginner. 
The day usually conies when he changes 
instructors. But by that time, the damage 
will have been done; the wrong way has 
become a habit. He is a much harder case 
for the new instructor than though he had 
never had a club in his hand. 

So you will see that it is highly important 
that a beginner start right. An acquired 
fault is the hardest kind of a one to get rid of. 

''How is a hegijiner to know correct golfing 
form ? ' ' 

I'll lead up to that gradually First, let me 
say that golf is a game which has been played 
for more than three hundred years by people 
of the leisure class — people who haven't done 

96 




o 
a 

■4-> 

Xi 

'3 



97 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

much of anything else except play golf. All of 
which represents a good many generations of 
life-long study of the game. With such a 
solid background, it is reasonable to suppose 
that there are certain golfing motions in the 
game, as it is played to-day, about which you 
can say, "This is the correct way, any other 
way is wrong." 

This rule of course does not apply to some 
few personal peculiarities in the game of some 
well known present day players. The grip, 
stance, and method of putting may differ 
slightly among leading players. Suit yourself 
pretty much how you go about them, remem- 
bering not to copy the eccentricity of an 
individual. 

I've spoken before about the essentials and 
non-essentials in the game. A great many 
people get the two mixed up. There is a 
tendency to be up to date; on the lookout for 
the most recent stunt that some leading golfer 
has made popular. Perhaps it is a new way 
of gripping the club, such as the Vardon grip. 
In which case it is a non-essential. So, why 

98 




99 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

copy it? Rather make a study of the parts 
of that particular player's game which have 
the three hundred year background; in other 
words, the essentials. 

I believe in copying the successful ones in 
golf, and in life for that matter. But I think 
it only common sense for one to confine this 
to the elements that have made them suc- 
cessful. If you go too far, you are liable to 
get muddled up and lose your sense of 
proportion. 

I have here a collection of photos of some of 
the world's leading golfers in action. After 
you have studied these awhile you will find 
that there are not so many different kinds of 
golf form as you may have thought. In fact 
there is only one kind; and you will see it in 
every one of those pictures. The essentials 
of the swing are the same in every case. It is 
only in the non-essentials that they differ. 

Study those photos carefully. Note the 
exact position of Vardon's heel in relation to 
his back swing. See whether his arm is 
rigidly stiff', only partially so, or doubled up. 

100 



SOME GOLF FAULTS 

Clearly, it is only partly stiff. Then the 
next time some one tells yon to play with 
a perfectly rigid arm, flash Vardon's photo 
on him. 



lOI 



TALK VII 
GETTING THE KNACK OF THE SWING 



103 



TALK VII 

GETTING THE KNACK OF THE SWING 

About every beginner at golf who is ambi- 
tious to become a good player has two roads 
open to him. One is to begin at the top and 
the other is to begin at the bottom. In the 
first case he wdll probably w^ork down and in 
the other he will unquestionably work up. By 
the top, I refer to the full swing. After a 
man has mastered that thoroughly so that the 
right swing has become second nature to him, 
he is a finished golfer. 

Most beginners want to tackle the full swing 
right at the start. They usually think that 
the driver is the only really important club in 
a golf bag. Often when a new pupil comes to 
me, the first club he picks out is a driver and I 
fairly have to hide it to keep it away from him. 

105 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

The full swing is the hardest movement in 
the game, and a driver or brassie the most 
difficult of clubs — although not a very promis- 
ing combination for a beginner. Why start 
with the most difficult in golf? The wiser 
method is to follow the lines of least resistance. 
Start with the simple part of the game, perfect 
that, and the difficulties will pretty well take 
care of themselves. 

''Why do beginners feel so confident about 
tackling the full swing?'' 

They fail to appreciate the foundation upon 
which it is built. Many people look upon the 
full swing as a movement quite different from 
the quarter, half, and three-quarter swings. 
To them, each one of these is a unit unto itself. 
They believe that there is no special con- 
nection between these four shots. 

As a matter of fact they are all one continu- 
ous movement which reaches its climax in the 
full swing. For this reason, you will see the 
importance of perfecting the short strokes 
before lengthening out into the full ones. A 
slight fault in the half swing becomes an 

I06 




Fig. 33 

The club as a pendulum. One of the first princi- 
ples of how a golf ball is swept off the tee 



107 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

exaggerated and very serious fault by the 
time you have reached the full swing. The 
only safe way is to perfect your half swing to 
the point where that fault will not develop 
at all. 

The beginner who attempts to master the 
full swing in a minute, hasn't the slightest 
idea what he is trying to do. On the other 
hand, the man who starts from small begin- 
nings, and masters each step as he comes to it, 
has a chance to analyze things and sees the 
reasons for every movement. 

For example, if he is painstaking enough 
simply to grasp the end of the club grip 
between the thumb and forefinger and let the 
club swing back and forth in front of him like 
a pendulum, he will learn and remember one 
of the first principles of how a golf ball is 
swept off the tee. Then he can go ahead and 
apply it (Fig. 33). 

'' What club and stroke do you recommend for 
hegmnersy 

The midiron and a quarter swing with only 
the left arm is a good starter. Also, leave the 

108 



GETTING THE KNACK OF THE SWING 

ball out of it entirely. Get the knack of the 
swing first. Some time ago in one of our talks 
I spoke of the pivoting and balancing exercises, 
by means of which a man could learn a lot 
about golf without any club in his hands. 
I will now take up two exercises in which the 
club, but no ball is used. 

First comes this left arm quarter swing. 
With the exception of right hand being on hip 
or at your side, take the proper golf stance, 
with eye on the imaginary ball, fingers of left 
hand well hidden on grip, and then swing the 
club back and forth in a short pendulum like 
swing, at the same time pivoting to right and 
left as far as is natural. Keep this exercise up 
continuously for some time, always just shav- 
ing the surface of the ground with the bottom 
of the club head (Fig. 34). 

This exercise gives you the feel of both the 
club and the short swing. Also it is the best 
possible means for strengthening the muscles 
of the left arm. For this reason it is a valu- 
able exercise for advanced golfers as well as 
beginners to practice now and then. With 

109 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

most people, the right arm is stronger than the 
left; it is perfectly reasonable to suppose that 
if both arms were of the same strength they 




Fig. 34 

Getting the knack of the swing without hitting 
the ball 

would work in better unison. If you keep at 
this exercise for some time, the left arm will 
soon be in condition to do its full share of the 
work. 

no 



GETTING THE KNACK OF THE SWING 

In the next exercise you go through the same 
movement I have just mentioned, but instead 
of only one hand, both hands in this case are 
grasping the club and in regulation golfing 
style. Swing back and forth, back and forth, 
always shaving the ground at the centre of the 
arc. When you fail to connect with the 
ground, it probably means that you have 
raised up ; if you dig up the ground, you are 
bending over too far. I mention these as only 
two of several golf faults that you can correct 
before you have ever hit a ball. There are 
many others. 

If there is any one exercise a man can 
practice that will make a finished golfer out of 
him_, this is the one. For here you are playing 
the game in all its essentials; only the ball is 
lacking. The full swing is merely a continu- 
ation of the short movement you are going 
through. I call this exercise, ''shaving the 
mat " ; in giving lessons I place a door mat in 
front of a pupil. Anybody can use the same 
scheme in his own home. Even advanced 
golfers would do well to come back to this 

III 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

simple exercise whenever they find themselves 
getting off their game (Fig. 35). 




Fig. 35 

Making the correct way a habit : the "shaving the 
mat" exercise 



It isn't always easy for beginners to connect 
with the surface of the mat. In most cases 
they swing through thin air or dig into the 

112 



GETTING THE KNACK OF THE SWING 

mat, at first. Then they begin to take stock 
of their faults with the result that they become 
more accurate. After the right way has be- 
come a habit, one can take his eyes off the 
mat and look out of the window if he wishes, 
while going through this exercise ; and on every 
back and forward stroke, the club head shaves 
the mat as neatly as can be. 

''Why not let a heginner start out hitting balls 
with this short stroke?'' 

Even in this short stroke, when a man starts 
right in hitting the ball he is liable to develop 
unnecessary faults . The average beginner w411 
chop at the ball rather than sweep it away 
from him. The ''shaving the mat" exercise 
is the sweeping movement of the finished 
golfer. Needless to say it's better to make 
this correct movement of golf a habit, rather 
than the fault of chopping. If the pupil never 
finds out that such a fault as chopping exists, 
so much the better for him. 

A beginner can't give too much time to this 
exercise; the more attention he gives it, the 
better his game will eventually become. After 

8 113 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

he has become fairly accurate at this, he can 
proceed to the practice of actually hitting 
balls with the quarter and half swing. But 
he should always take full stock of his faults as 
they appear and not allow them to get any 
further. By slow degrees he can continue 
back to the three-quarter and then the full 
swing. 



114 



TALK VI II 
STICK 10 THE MINOR SHOTS 



115 



TALK VIII 

STICK TO THE MINOR SHOTS 

There are two old adages that every 
beginner at golf should have constantly in the 
back of his head. One is, ''practice makes 
perfect," the other, ''make haste slowly." 
The beginner should confine his efforts to the 
quarter and half swings; practise them over 
and over until they are letter perfect; until 
the right w^ay has become second nature to 
him. Then he can proceed to master the 
three-quarter and finally the full swing. 

But let him always remember this: the 
longer he sticks to the quarter and half shots, 
the better will his game eventually become. 
Make your short game perfect and the long 
game will take care of itself. 

In this connection, I will ask you to follow 

117 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

the play of the leading golf professionals. 
Practically every one of these men excels in 
the minor shots ; and incidentally the man who 
plays a consistent game of well placed minor 
shots, usually plays a winning game. The 
reason why the average golf professional plays 
the short game so exceedingly well dates back 
to his golf beginnings; for days, months, and 
sometimes years his game had been almost 
entirely confined to the quarter and half 
swings. 

In most cases these men were started upon 
their golfing careers as caddy boys. Fortu- 
nately for them, very few owned a whole bag- 
ful of clubs in their earliest golfing days; the 
fact that their club possessions were confined 
to an odd iron or mashie was really the thing 
that made their game. Then, too, while 
waiting around for their employers to come to 
the tee, they usually killed time by practising 
short mashie shots. With a solid foundation 
of this sort, it is not at all surprising that in 
due time, these boys should have developed 
into experts at the minor shots. 

ii8 




119 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

' ' Why is it so difficult for the average beginner 
to hit a hall squarely?'' 

It's a state of mind for the most part. 
People have the erroneous idea that there is a 
great mystery about golf. In reality there 
isn't any mystery about it at all. It is simply 
a question of hitting the ball naturally. But 
instead, many people become panic striken at 
the supposed difficulties of connecting with 
the ball, and wind themselves up into all sorts 
of unnatural contortions (for example, figures 
2>^~2>7^- To the caddy boy, killing time with 
a few short mashie shots, there is no mystery 
to golf ; none of the supposed difficulties occur 
to him. He simply plays perfect and natural 

golf. 

The mere presence of the ball is often 
sufficient to frighten the beginner into all 
sorts of unnatural movements. For this rea- 
son it is wise for him first to acquire the knack 
of the minor swings without a ball at all. 
When this knack becomes second nature to 
him, the ball is no longer a bugaboo, but 
simply a small white object that happens to be 

120 







fe 



a 

Xi 

G 
(« 

P. 

(U 

3 
O 

-a xi 

2 C 






121 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

in the line of the swing. In our last talk, 
these shots with a wholly imaginary ball were 
-explained. The most valuable one is called 
"shaving the mat " ; that is, take a short swing 
back and forth over an ordinary door mat, just 
grazing the surface with the club head. 

After the beginner has become accustomed 
to the feel of the club, and finds that he is able 
to connect with the surface of the mat fairly 
consistently, he is ready for the next step. 
Now he can try hitting the ball, with the same 
short stroke. 

A golf course is not the best place in the 
world for the beginner to practise the actual 
hitting of the ball; in fact it's one of the worst. 
By far the best method is to go to an indoor 
golf school (Figs. 38-39) or rig up some sort of 
court yourself with a canvas back stop; there 
may be room for it in your attic or back yard. 
One of my pupils uses as a combination back 
stop and bull's-eye, an old carpet swung across 
the entrance to his garage. Every day when 
he gets home from business he bombards it 
with several dozen shots. 

122 




o 



123 




On 



2 o 



J3 











t 

A, 




'"J; 


am 





124 



STICK TO THE MINOR SHOTS 

I have at Lake Placid, an outdoor netted 
court adjoining the golf course. Pupils some- 
times start out with the belief that they will 




Fig. 40 

Where a beginner will learn golf more quickly 

than on the links. A practice cage of cheap and 

simple construction 



make faster progress by learning on the course 
itself. But they usually fall back upon the 
court as the surer method. 

This particular court cost less than twenty- 
five dollars to build. There isn't much to it 
but posts and crosspieces with chicken house 
wire strung over the top, sides, and one end. 
Just in front of the closed end is a sheet of 

125 




Fig, 41 

Wrong. When only a half a swing is wanted, 

there is a common tendency to swing back too 

far 



126 



STICK TO THE MINOR SHOTS 

canvas and a bull's-eye to aim at. Nearly an}/ 
one can build one like it in the back yard 
(Fig. 40). 

Practice, above all else is what will make a 
golfer out of a man. With some such equip- 
ment as this, either indoors or outdoors, at his 
disposal he can practise to his heart's content. 

'' How should a man go about using such a 
court ? ' ' 

Simply take a dozen or more golf balls and 
drive them at the canvas target one after the 
other, using the short stroke already men- 
tioned. Be sure to stick to the short stroke; 
one of the common faults with a beginner who 
intends to take only a half swing is that he 
reaches back to one that more closely ap- 
proaches a three-quarter (Fig. 41). The first 
thing a man should do is to make up his mind 
that he is going to make a record of six succes- 
sive strikes on the target. The chances are, 
however, that he won't do this. Probably he 
will manage to get up to four or five, and then 
spoil the string with a foozle. In this case he 
should pay a penalty; one that is an excellent 

127 




Fic. 42 
Correct: How a half swing should look at the top 



128 



STICK TO THE MINOR SHOTS 

lesson in concentration. He should start all 
over again beginning at "one." 

When he has finally registered six successive 
hits, he is allowed to go after bigger game. 
Let him try next for twelve successive hits. If 
he falls down at ''eleven," back he goes to 
''one" again and so on over and over until the 
coveted twelve has been reached. Where 
there are proper facilities for doing so, this 
same method can be carried out with twenty- 
four and then fifty shots. When you get up 
around forty-eight or so, it's a good test of con- 
centration to run out the string successfully. 

Of course it's not likely that a man will have 
as many golf balls as this to play, but he can 
devise some scheme whereby each ball rolls 
back to his feet after hitting the target. In 
giving indoor instruction, I have had an 
inclined floor constructed, reaching from the 
base of the target to the pupil's feet. In this 
way, all he has to do is reach down and pick 
up each ball after it has rolled back. 



129 



TALK IX 
FROM THREE-QUARTERS TO FULL SWING 



131 



TALK IX 

FROM THREE-QUARTERS TO FULL SWING 

I HAVE spoken of the importance to the golf 
beginner of perfecting the minor shots before 
attempting the fnll swing. This advice can't 
be repeated too often. First get the quarter 
swing down pat, then in turn the half, and 
follow that up with the three-quarter swing so 
that the right way becomes a habit; then the 
full swing in most cases will take care of itself. 
Some people think that the full swing is an 
entirely different movement from the quarter, 
half, and three-quarter shots. As a matter of 
fact, it is exactly the same — merely a continu- 
ation of the minor swings. 

I have mentioned the necessity of practising 
the half swing until it has become perfect; 
until every move you make is correct without 

133 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

your giving a thought to what you are 
doing. When that happy moment has ar- 
rived, you can swing back to the three- 
quarter and perfect that in the same way 
(Figs. 43-44). 

It happens that the three-quarter swing is 
the Hmit of some people's game. Their three- 
quarter and the shorter shots are often without 
a flaw, but when it comes to reaching back to 
the full swing they may not be able to quite 
get it. In such a case it is foolish for a man to 
spend a good part of a lifetime trying to 
acquire something that is beyond him. Life 
is too short. 

It is far wiser to play fairl}" good golf with a 
three-quarter swing than poor golf with a full 
swing. The man who has perfected the 
three-quarter but can't quite master the full 
swing is up against this very situation. In 
most cases, this applies to men who have not 
taken up golf until they are over forty and 
who are without an athletic background. 

Although the full swing is but a continu- 
ation of the three-quarter, I am going to take 

134 




Fig. 43 
Top of the three-quarter swing 



135 




Fig. 44 

Finish of the three-quarter swing 



136 



FROM THREE-QUARTERS TO FULL SWING 

you to it by what may strike you as being a 
rather round-about method. However, it is 
an extremely effective one. This first step in 
getting the knack of the full swing is in the 
form of a simple practice exercise, somewhat 
along the lines of other exercises I have men- 
tioned in our talks. I do not say that this 
particular exercise is necessary in order to 
acquire the full swing. But it simplifies 
matters, and golf at every stage should be kept 
down to the simplest possible terms. 

The first move in this exercise is to address 
the ball as you would for a quarter, half, or 
three-quarter swing. But instead of swinging 
the club back in the customary manner, bring 
it straight up to and over the right shoulder 
(Fig. 45). You will now imagine, if you can, 
that the club is a long handled mallet and that 
you wish to drive a peg into the ground with 
it. In the position you are now holding, the 
head of the club is hanging down over the 
shoulder; your hands on the grip of the club 
are in line with your chin. The position of 
the body remains just as in the address; body 

137 




Fig. 45 

Second position in the mallet exercise. Imagine 
you are about to drive a peg into the ground 



I3« 



FROM THREE-QUARTERS TO FULL SWING 

slightly bent, right shoulder depressed a little, 
left arm almost straight, right elbow down, 




Fig. 46 

An instantaneous snapshot showing correct 
position at top of the swing 

head facing forward and feet firmly planted on 
the ground. 

139 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

You are now in a position to drive the peg 
into the ground with an up and down swing of 




Fig. 47 



The correct finish of a full iron shot 



the arms. But if you wish to get any man- 
sized strokes out of the mallet, it is quite 

140 



FROM THREE-QUARTERS TO FULL SWING 

necessary that you get your body into the 
strokes. The entirely natural movement to 
do this would be to swing the arms to the 
right and at the same time pivot. This move- 
ment brings the shaft of the club (or mallet) 
across the back of your neck, although not 
quite touching it. 

If you will now proceed to examine the 
pivot you have made with such entire natural- 
ness, you will find that the left heel is off the 
ground, the left knee bent inward, right leg 
almost rigid, left arm almost straight, right 
elbow down, and your eyes are fixed upon the 
imaginary peg. And you may be surprised to 
learn that you are in almost perfect form for 
the top of the full golf swing (Fig. 46). 



141 



TALK X 
THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE 



143 



TALK X 

THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE 

Once you have mastered the full swing you 
can conscientiously say that you know golf. 
The full swing is the sum total of the game. 
You will have your off days — that concerns 
mental condition mainly — but the feel of the 
full swing once acquired is never forgotten. 

We can compare golf with other sports in 
this respect. Suppose that some time in the 
past you have learned the fine points of swim- 
ming or skating but have not engaged in these 
sports recently. Then you suddenly take 
them up again. At first you are a trifle rusty, 
but it is not long before you are back into your 
old form again. 

It is the same way with golf. The full 
swing, once you have it right, will always stay 
10 145 




Fig. 48 

Wrong. Head has moved off centre and thrown 
whole body out of balance 



146 



THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE 

by you. Even though you drop the game 
entirely for a time, you will never have to 
begin all over when you start in again. All 
that is needed is a little brushing up. 

In order to acquire this permanent found- 
ation, it is quite essential that you get the full 
swing right in the first place. The road to 
perfection is often a long hard one. Yet when 
once the goal is reached the correct full swing 
will strike you as being astonishingly simple, 
much more simple in fact than the wrong way. 
And your form, at the full swing depends 
mainly upon what it happens to be at the 
quarter, half, and three-quarter swings. 

If your minor shots are right, the chances 
are that your full swing will be perfect. The 
top of the full swing is simply a continuation of 
these. If the segments of the circle are with- 
out faults, so vv^ill the complete circle be above 
reproach. That is why I constantly repeat 
the necessity of perfecting the minor shots 
before tackling the full vSwing. 

Of utmost importance is balance — absolute 
body balance every inch of the way from the 

147 




Fig. 49 

Correct. Head is dead centre as at address and in 
perfect balance 



148 




Fig. 50 

Turning the heel too far at top of swing. This 
throws one off balance 



149 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

address to the top of the swing. If this is 
correct at the top, the club will sweep down 
and hit the ball square. But if you go off 
balance at any stage while the club is travelling 
to the top — at quarter, half, or three-quarter — 
the chances are that you will be off balance at 
the top and also to a greater extent than you 
are farther down. A fault that is compara- 
tively slight at the quarter or half stage 
becomes greatly exaggerated by the time it 
reaches the full. 

Let us go through the movement of the full 
swing from the address to the top. At the 
address, we will take for granted that your 
balance is perfect. Right shoulder is down, 
stomach is in, head is held rigidly in the 
centre, eyes are on the ball, hands are gripping 
club without any effort. All is natural and 
easy. 

You now proceed to make a half turn to 
the right, keeping the forward bend of the 
body constant. Due to the pivoting, the left 
knee bends inward, the wrists twist naturally. 
By the time you reach the top, the right elbow 

150 




Fig. 51 

The correct distance to turn heel at top of swing 



151 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

is fairly well against the body the hands are 
well away from the head, the left arm is almost 
although not quite straight. 

There are quite a few possible faults that 
may crop up during this proceeding that will 
throw the body off balance and spoil the whole 
shot. All may go well until the half swing 
stage is reached and then perhaps the body 
sways off balance to the left. This is known 
as ''waisting," a very common fault. 

I wish to emphasize particularly the neces- 
sity of keeping the head still throughout the 
swing. It should remain in the same identical 
position as in the address. A common tend- 
ency is that of inclining it to the left. You 
may hardly consider this enough to throw 
the whole body off balance. But it will. A 
man can sometimes allow his eyes to wander 
from the ball and still hit it. But very seldom 
can he connect with it if his head is not held 
rigid all the time from the address until the 
time of impact (Figs. 48-49). 

This is one of the basic things about golf 
that people do not hear enough about. ' ' Keep 

152 



THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE 

your eye on the ball" has a familiar ring to 
every golfer's ears. And, of course, it is very 
important. Some time ago a prominent golfer 
was blindfolded after being allowed to see the 
position of the ball. Thereupon he proceeded 
to drive a superb shot. He couldn't keep his 
eye on the ball, but he had to keep his head 
still. If you wish to play good golf, remember 
these four words: ''Keep your head still." 



153 



TALK XI 
TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS 



155 



TALK XI 

TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS 

The man who expects to play a good round 
of golf must first of all be in prime condition. 
This applies either to his physical or mental 
make-up, usually a combination of the two. 
A heavy lunch immediately before a round, 
for example, is not conducive to the best play. 
Your wits must be keenly alive every minute 
in golf and if you feel the least bit loggy it is 
difficult to keep them so. 

Even though you have a good fund of energy, 
it is a mistake to use a lot of it in getting to 
the links. Now and then a pupil who has an 
appointment with me for a golf lesson finds 
that he is a minute or two late and rushes in all 
out of breath. As a matter of fact I would 
prefer that he did not come at all than in that 

157 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

condition. He will be in no shape to get the 
most out of the lesson until he has rested for a 
time and become normal again. 

In the same way, it is a mistake to rush 
through a round of golf, as though you were 
catching the last train home. Many a man 
at the end of such a round looks as though he 
had been through a football game. It is safe 
to say that his game has suffered more than he 
has. Golf is a game in which there is no inten- 
tion of roughness either on your opponent or 
yourself. If you treat yourself the least bit 
roughly, your game will suffer in consequence. 

This brings us to the care of the hands. 
Few people realize how important it is that the 
hands be without a scratch or blemish. Even 
a ring w^orn on your finger is detrimental to 
good golf. But it is the common garden 
variety of blister that is probably the most 
usual offender so far as the hands are 
concerned. 

You may consider a blister or a scratch of 
small importance. In a football game, of 
course, it wouldn't make any difference with 

158 



TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS 

your game. But you must remember that 
golf is an entirely different sort of sport. 
Here is a game so keenly mental that even the 
rustling of a piece of paper may turn a 
prospective long drive into a disappointing 
foozle. What then of the worrisome blister on 
the driving hand? Simply that it is practi- 
cally out of the question for one thoroughly 
to concentrate as long as it is there. And 
without thorough concentration one can never 
hope to play good golf. 

Some golfers seem to be a bit proud of a row 
of blisters. They are nothing to be proud of. 
In fact, they serve only as one of the best 
known means of keeping the score high. 
These golfers may not realize it, but they can 
hold those blisters directly responsible for 
having lost them a good many holes. Pro- 
bably nine golfers out of ten fail to appreciate 
fully just how highly keyed a game it is they 
are playing. 

Even a single small blister is one of the 
greatest of handicaps to a man's game. It 
doesn't actually have to give you pain to throw 

159 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

your game off. The subconscious thought that 
it is there is often enough. Such a small thing 
in some cases can be more disastrous to one's 
game than even a bad case of indigestion. 

There is no reason in the world why a golfer 
should have blisters. If he realized how much 
they harmed his game he wouldn't grow them 
in the first place. This simply represents 
taking some means of prevention. In other 
words, wear gloves. At any rate, wear them 
until your hands have become so hardened 
that they can fairly well take care of them- 
selves. Even though a man doesn't keep 
them on all season he should in all cases wear 
them in the early part when the hands are soft. 

This applies equally to the man just taking 
up golf, whenever he starts. You may think 
that the hands will fail to become hardened 
when wearing gloves. As a matter of fact 
they will become hardened just about as fast 
with gloves as without them. The only 
difference is that in one case they will come 
out with blisters and in the other without. 
Some men don't like to wear gloves playing 

i6o 




Fig. 52 

It is wholly natural golf when all 

muscles of the body from toes to eyes 

move together in one direction 



II 



i6t 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

golf because they think gloves seem effeminate. 
Of course such talk as this is all poppycock. 

The manner in which one grips the club 
often has much to do with the development of 
blisters. You will more frequently find blis- 
ters on the hands of beginners than in the case 
of men who have played golf a good deal. The 
reason for this lies in the fact that the begin- 
ner, instead of relaxing properly, usually grips 
the club as though it were the proverbial straw 
of the drowning man. 

The thickness of the club shaft also has 
something to do with this. A grip of narrow 
diameter is often more likely to give one 
blisters than one of larger diameter. In the 
case where the thickness is not so great one 
instinctively grips harder to get a purchase 
upon the club (Fig. 53). 

So much for blisters. Now for trouble that 
may come from holding the left hand too high 
up the shaft. If you will turn your left hand 
upward and feel along the side of the palm in 
line with the left hand's small forefinger you 
may or may not find a little soreness there. 

162 



TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS 

If you fail to find any tender spot in the palm 
this means that you are probably in the habit 
of gripping the club with your left hand at 
about the right position on the shaft. This 
proper position is just below the top string 
binding on the leather (Fig. i6). 

However, if there is a soreness in the palm it 
means that when you grip the club, you allow 
your left hand to wander up above the top of 
the shaft. Any one who does this is letting 
himself in for a lot of trouble. It happens 
that there is a very delicate bone in the outer 
edge of the palm. If the top of the shaft 
comes into contact with this, the bone becomes 
very much irritated, and you are likely to have 
a bad siege of it. I've known men who have 
been out of the game entirely for six months at 
a time just because of this. So be sure to keep 
your hand below the top string binding. 

I do not favor the overlapping grip. I pre- 
fer the natural grip. One reason for this is 
that the overlapping is likely to knock a man's 
hands out of kilter. In the overlapping grip, 
the small finger of the right hand comes into 

163 




i'i^" 53 

The grip of this club shaft is of generous diam- 
eter. One is not tempted to grip hard in order 
to get a purchase 



164 



TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS 

contact with the forefinger of the left. As a 
result, friction is set up and very often you 
find a mean sore on the knuckle of this left 
forefinger. A sore of this sort is disconcerting 
to one's game. If you attend a tournament 
you will probably be able to recognize the 
men who use the overlapping grip by rings of 
tape around their forefingers. 

Speaking of tape, if you have reason to use 
it, you might as well use it right. Many 
people wind a piece of tape around a sore finger 
just as though they were tying up a bundle. 
If you wish the sore to heal — and you wouldn't 
bother with tape at all if you didn't — treat it 
decently. Never should one allow the sticky 
side of the tape to come into contact with the 
sore. Wind first with the smooth side next 
to the sore. After that you can reverse it and 
wind with the sticky part underneath. 



165 



TALK XII 
TOPPING THE BALL 



167 



TALK XII 



TOPPING THE BALL 



The faults that one cannot fathom are the 
ones that cause all the trouble in golf. There 
is a direct reason for every fault, and the longer 
one goes on in blitheful ignorance of what this 
may be, the more difficult does good golf 
become. For in due time the fault becomes a 
fixed habit and nothing is harder to overcome 
than habit. However, once you have ana- 
lyzed matters and understand the exact reason 
for a fault you can proceed to mend your 
golfing ways. From then on you are on the 
lookout for that particular fault and when it 
crops up you readily recognize it. In time 
you overcome it. 

One of the most common faults in golf is 
the ancient evil of topping the ball. Of course 

169 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

if a man's swing is perfect in every respect he 
won't top. But the fact remains that the 
result is often disappointing even when on 
the surface the golfer seems to be in perfect 
form. In such cases, he probably cannot 
figure out for the life of him the reason for it 
all. Likely enough this is because the root of 
the evil is so astonishingly self-evident. 

As an example of this we will take the 
matter of keeping the eye on the ball. Per- 
haps the golfer who has just topped, on being 
questioned swears that he has kept his eye 
glued upon the ball. So far so good. But 
possibly when we begin to inquire about the 
particular part of the ball he has eyed, the 
answer brings forth the cause of the trouble. 
Likely enough it has been the top of the ball. 

Right here is where it pays to stop and 
reason things out. Reason just why the top 
ot the ball is the wrong place to keep the eye 
and the side is the right place. A surprisingly 
large number of golf beginners go wrong on 
this. I ask a great many of my new pupils 
about the part of the ball upon which they 

170 




Fig. 54 

An old cure for looking up too soon; keeping eyes 
fixed on spot from which ball has flown. Al- 
though unnatural, there is no harm in trying it 
now and then but don't allow it to become a habit 



171 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

keep their eyes and in many cases they admit 
the top. Yet this is obviously quite the 
unnatural thing to do. Let us reason this out. 

Say a man is driving a stake into the ground 
with a sledge while another man has his hand 
around the stake just below the top in order 
to steady it. If it happens that the man 
wielding the sledge is unaccustomed to this 
work it is quite likely that his thoughts are 
centred upon the other fellow's hand. He is 
afraid he will hit it. 

The one and only spot where his thoughts 
and eyes should be centred are on the exact 
top of the stake. But just as soon as his 
thoughts wander to the other man's hand, his 
eyes follow suit. So does the sledge. I will 
leave the rest to your imagination. And 
doubtless you will see how this principle may 
apply just as aptly in keeping the eye on the 
exact spot where you wish to hit the golf ball 
as it does in the case of the sledge. 

Another misconception among beginners 
that leads to topping and poor golf is the mat- 
ter of contact between ball and club head. 

172 




Fig. 55 

A cure for topping. Crumple up a piece of paper 

and lay it behind the ball. Drive the paper. 

You will hit the ball fair and square 



173 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

Very often I ask a new pupil to point out 
on the club head the spot of contact with the 
ball. The chances are that he puts his finger 
on the lower edge of the club head. Of course 




Fig. 56 

Sometime, examine the dotted round stamp made 

by the concussion of the ball. It is nearly as 

large as a half-dollar piece. See that your club 

head is large enough to accommodate it 



if that is the spot where he has his mind set 
upon hitting the ball, that is exactly where he 
will hit it. And the natural result will be 
either a topped ball or a very short one. 

As I have said in a previous talk, the point 

174 



TOPPING THE BALL 

of contact should be directly in the centre of 
the face of the head. When I explain how the 




Fig. 



57 



The wrong way to finish the swing. Shoulders 
should be on same plane from address to finish 



concussion of the ball acts you will see the 
reason for this. Some day after you have 
made a particularly good shot, examine the 

175 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

face of the club head carefully. Then you 
will realize just what the concussion of the ball 
means. 

The markings of the ball still remain on the 




riG. 58 

The address of a mashie shot. Note height of 
shoulder above, and in the photo which follows 



face. These are in the form of a dotted round 
stamp almost as large as a half-dollar piece. 
If only a half circle is stamped on the face, this 
means an imperfect shot. With half the ball 
on the head and half off you are getting only 

176 



TOPPING THE BALL 

about half the distance to which you are 
entitled (Fig. 56). 

The greatest amount of topping is due to 
raising the body up during the course of the 




Fig. 59 

Finish of a mashie shot. Shoulder is same height 
as at address 



swing. The shoulders should be on exactly 
the same plane from the address to the finish 
of the swing. But it often takes a good deal 
of practice before a man can accomplish this. 
Raising the body is one of the most difficult 

177 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

things in golf to overcome. Offhand you 
might say that it would be one of the easiest. 
You must remember, however, that here you 
have a habit of years to overcom^e. A man 
raises up instinctively. That is the way he 
stands and walks; even though he be in any 
leaning position he bounds right back to 
straight again (Figs. 57-58-59). 

In the golf address he is forced to lean over 
to connect with the ball. Just as soon as the 
club swings back into thin air he often uncon- 
sciously straightens his body. The result on 
the down swing is a topped ball. 

On the other hand, he may go from straight 
to the other extreme. He makes an effort to 
lean over and as a result the club digs up the 
ground before reaching the ball. It is import- 
ant that one keep the body slightly bent all the 
way through the golf swing, right from address 
to finish. 



178 



TALK XI I i 
OVERCOMING FAULTS 



179 



TALK XIII 

OVERCOMINCi FAULTS 

Among many fond memories of my boyhood 
days on the St. Andrews Hnks in Scotland was 
a certain old General. The General was an 
enthusiastic golfer, but at the same time he 
suffered rather more than his allotted share of 
golfing faults. The General decided that he 
would overcome these in short order and he 
proceeded to work out a plan all his own for 
doing so. 

He got four celluloid tags. Then he 
attached two of these to the uppers of his 
shoes. The other two were fastened on the 
arms of his coat just above the wrists. On 
one of the foot tags was printed ''Keep your 
eye on the ball," on the other "Don't press." 
The respective arms' tags read, "Follow 
through" and "Slow back." 

i8i . 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

Placarded with these constant reminders, 
the General started forth on his round of golf. 




Fig. 6o 

A cure for raising up. If the back swing is cor- 
rect, the space between head and horizontal club 
will remain as shown in address 



I am uncertain as to whether this original 
scheme helped his game; it seems to me it 
must have proved a bit disconcerting. How- 

182 




Fig. 6i 

See preceding photo. The above is what often 

happens. The golfer has raised up and knows it 

when head meets club 



183 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

ever that may be, the General had the right 
idea. There are a number of Httle schemes, 
possibly more or less mechanical, that will 
notably help a man's game. 

I have spoken recently about the very com- 
mon fault of topping the ball. A man's 
shoulder should be on the same plane, his head 
centred in the same position at the top of the 
swing as they have been at the address. If 
they are not, he will probably top the ball on 
the down swing. A very usual fault is that of 
raising the body and allowing the head to drop 
toward the left shoulder as one approaches the 
top of the swing (Fig. 48). 

The golfer is seldom conscious of the fact 
that he raises his body, but it is easy enough 
to show him proof of it. If you are inclined 
this way, get a friend to stand at your left side 
and hold a golf club horizontally a few inches 
above your head at the address. Then go 
through a practice swing (Fig. 60). 

Before going far you will probably have a 
sensation that some one has banged you on the 
top of the head. This is your friend's club of 

184 




Fig. 62 

The body should pivot on a dead centre through- 
out the entire swing. Club held vertically in 
photo represents centre line at address. The 
golfer has swayed to the right and is off balance 



185 




Fig. 63 

In this case the golfer has pivoted on a dead 
centre as noted by position of club to the rear 



186 



OVERCOMING FAULTS 

course. It has remained motionless; it is you 
who have risen to meet it (Fig. 6i). After a 
Httle practice you will find that you are reach- 
ing the top of the swing without encountering 
the club. 

Another scheme of the same sort, one 
whereby you can practice by yourself, is that 
of using a bell. Tie a string to a bell and hang 
it from the limb of a convenient tree so that it 
dangles within a few inches of the top of your 
head at the address. On raising up, you ring 
the bell. 

Practising before a mirror is a great help. 
There's nothing like seeing yourself as others 
see you. With a mirror before you it is 
possible to stop at any stage of the swing and 
look yourself carefully over to see if every- 
thing is as it should be. At the top of the 
swing especially, it is wise to stop dead and 
notice whether you are properly balanced. 
Note carefully the position of the head and 
body at the address, and then see whether the 
position at the top of the swing corresponds 
with it properly. 

187 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

I always use a mirror in my instruction 
work. It is much more effective actually to 
show a man a living likeness of himself off 
centre and off balance than merely tell him 
about it . With the pupil facing the mirror 
at the address I often stand behind him and 
hold a golf club in front of me in a vertical 
position. This position represents the line of 
centre balance (Fig. 62). 

At the address, most of the club cannot be 
seen in the mirror. By the time the top of the 
swing has been reached, however, it may be 
in full view. The rigid club still remains in 
the proper position for the centre of balance, 
but the actual balance of the pupil has gone 
strangely askew. After due practice, how- 
ever, the pupil's head, body, and my golf 
club become one (Fig. 63). 

Another good idea is to have somebody 
take a few snap-shots of you during various 
stages of your play. After the films have 
been developed you will probably find that 
you play a whole lot differently from what 
you thought you did. Compare the photos of 




Fig. 64 

If heeling the ball is your fault, try addressing it 
with the toe of the club 



189 




Fig. 65 

Turning the club head is a common way to spoil 

a mashie shot. Club shown at the right has a 

turned face; that to the loft is correct 



190 



OVERCOMING FAULTS 

yourself with those of a prominent golfer like 
Vardon and note well just where the difference 
lies. 

Many faults can be cured by exaggeration. 
By going to the opposite extreme one often 
actually strikes a happy mean. For example, 
if one is slicing badly he may very well find 
that by making an effort to pull the ball he 
overcomes the slicing and instead of pulling 
really drives the ball straight down the course. 

In much the same way if one finds himself 
continually hitting the ball with the heel of 
the club, it is wise to go to the other extreme 
and address it with the toe (Fig. 64). 

Or take the matter of topping. Roll up a 
small piece of paper and lay it on the ground 
directly behind the ball. Then instead of 
playing the ball, play that piece of paper. 
You will probably hit the ball fair and square 
(Fig. 55). 



191 



TALK XIV 
KEEPING THE MUSCLES IN HARMONY 



13 193 



TALK XIV 

KEEPING THE MUSCLES IN HARMONY 

There is a notable difference between wise 
effort on the one hand and violent energy on 
the other. The first represents head work, the 
second usually lack thereof. This is essenti- 
ally true of golf. In golf we find a game of 
effort, and whether this means wise or wasted 
effort depends upon the player. When you 
see an accomplished golfer drive a ball you 
will be likely to say that there is a complete 
absence of effort of any kind. Yet the fact 
remains that practically every ounce of 
strength in his body is behind that shot. 
Therein lies the secret of good golf; the ability 
to expend eff'ort without being conscious of the 
fact. The good player seldom realizes the 
great power he is putting into a stroke. 

195 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

The greater part of this strength comes 
from the thighs, back, and shoulders. The 
wrists, hands, and arms appear to do most of 
the work, yet as a matter of fact they represent 
but a small part of the real power. These 
are simply the propelling power. Practically 
all muscles in the body have certain allotted 
work to perform in the golf stroke. And if 
each set is to function properly there must be a 
just distribution of work. This means proper 
bodily balance from beginning to end of the 
golf swing. 

All the muscles of the body should work in 
perfect harmony. And perfect body balance 
is the direct result of muscles that are in 
harmony. Suppose your balance is correct at 
the address and remains so during the greater 
part of the back swing. This means that the 
muscles are functioning as they should. 

Then suppose that things suddenly occur 
which throw you off balance; your left leg 
may crumple up so that you are left nothing 
to stand on or perhaps your head drops toward 
the left shoulder. The result is that your 

196 



KEEPING THE MUSCLES IN HARMONY 

body is now made up of a number of sets of 
muscles in active conflict with each other. 
The power of the muscles has become neutral- 
ized and the result is wasted effort (Fig. 66). 

The beginner struggling in the throes of the 
problem of just what constitutes proper bodily 
balance may perhaps accuse the muscles of 
being ignorant of the work they are supposed 
to perform. Doubtless they are in cases 
where a goodly number of golf faults have 
become a habit. However, education and 
practice will set them right; in which case it 
will be a question of educating these muscles 
from the unnatural to that which is the per- 
fectly natural. 

Even a man who does not know golf can 
recognize the proper balance of the body when 
he sees it. In this connection I once had an 
interesting experience with Moretti, the sculp- 
tor. Moretti wished to make a statue of a 
golfer, but not knowing the slightest thing 
about the game he came to me for some 
information as to just how a golfer looks in 
action. 

197 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

There happened to be a golf beginner stand- 
ing close by with a club in his hand, and this 
man was asked to go through the swing. He 
did as requested, and finished his back swing 
with his body considerably off balance. Mor- 
etti shook his head ; he instinctively knew that 
this wasn't right. Then he turned to me and 
asked me to go through the swing. I did so, 
and as I swung to the right he impetuously 
jumped forw^ard and grabbed me saying: 

''Hold that. It is superb." 

Muscles may be just as much in conflict 
when relaxed as when tense. Indeed during 
the greater part of the golf swing they should 
be relaxed. There is only one time when their 
full strength is called for and that is in hitting 
the ball. There are many possibilities for 
wasted energy during the course of the vSwing. 

Take, for example, the death grip which 
many beginners take on the club ; this is wholly 
wasted effort. Indeed, some golfers expend 
such a great amount of energy on the back 
swing that by the time the club reaches 
the ball, the over- taxed muscles have little 

198 




Fig. 66 

Showing a number of golfing faults. Several dif- 
ferent sets of muscles in the body are in active 
conflict with each other 



199 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

strength left to offer. As a matter of fact, the 
back swing should be a period of relaxation. 
It is simply winding up the body. This may 
be compared to winding up a piece of string, 
the down swing representing the release. 

Likewise, irrespective of whether muscles 
are tense or relaxed, they are working just the 
same. And this brings us to the very common 
fault of mistiming. Let us suppose that you 
are addressing the ball, ready for a full golf 
swing. Just stop and imagine that the pro- 
spective swing is a wheel ; with the usual rim, 
spokes, and hub. The club head represents 
the rim, the shaft is a spoke, and the hub 
your body. The action of both the back and 
forward swing should be that of a spinning 
wheel (Figs. 67-68). 

Clearly enough the rim of this wheel has to 
travel faster than does the hub. But even 
though the hub does travel more slowly it has 
to spin around with it. The two must spin 
around with it. The two must spin in har- 
mony. And exactly this same principle 
applies to golf. Suppose, for example, that 

200 



KEEPING THE MUSCLES IN HARMONY 

by the time the club is half-way back, the left 
heel still remains solidly upon the ground. 




Fig. 67 

A demonstration of the common fault of mistim- 

i^ii- The hub and rim of the wheel fail to travel 

together 



This means that the muscles are not function- 
ing as they should and a conflict between them 
has started. A harmonious spin of the rim 
and hub would bring the heel off the ground. 

201 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

In the same way, if at this stage of the 
swing, the shoulders have not followed the rim 
to the right, this also means mistiming. The 




Fig. 68 

Correct timing. The hub and rim spin in harmony 

body has an important part to play in the golf 
stroke and it should not be allowed to lag 
behind the arms. This is a rather common 
tendency, due to the fact that the arms are the 
faster moving parts. On the other hand, the 

202 



KEEPING THE MUSCLES IN HARMONY 

right shoulder should not beat the arms around. 
The hub and the rim. should work in constant 
unison from the address to the finish of the 
swing. 



203 



TALK XV 
SLICING AND HOOKING 



20 = 



TALK XV 



SLICING AND HOOKING 



Fortunate is the golfer who has never 
learned the meaning of slicing and hooking 
the ball. The average golfer is quite satisfied 
with the world in general when he sees the ball 
travel straight down the course in an undevi- 
ating line, for that is the result he has played 
for. If, however, the ball sheers off to the 
right or left, gloom settles down upon him, and 
he knows by either token that his swing has 
not been faultless. Something has gone 
wrong, although he is probably at sea as to 
just what this may have been. 

Of course a slice or hook may be either 
intentional or unintentional. An accom- 
plished golfer in order to drop the ball in a 
certain spot will often intentionally play a slice 

207 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

or hook. And when a man knows exactly 
what he is doing, and the precise manner of 




Fig. 69 

A grip that will slice the ball 

getting this desired result, hooking and slicing 
cannot be classed as evils. 

The fact remains, however, that with the 
average golfer slicing and hooking are distinct 
evils, and they remain such just so long as they 

208 



SLICING AND HOOKING 

pop up when not wanted. As a matter of fact, 
neither sHcing nor hooking have any place in 




Fig. 70 

A grip that will hook the ball 

the entirely natural game of golf. If one 
sticks strictly to the game as nature intends it 
should be played, you will not do either of 
these. 

If you know the reasons for certain faults in 
t4 209 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

golf it is fairly easy to overcome them. The 
faults that play all the havoc are those which 
you cannot find the reasons for, with the result 




Fig. 71 

The slicer's left-hand grip 



that you keep on with them and they become 
more and more of a habit and just so much 
more difficult to break in the end. On the 
other hand, if you know that a certain definite 



210 



SLICING AND HOOKING 

action will bring about a certain result and 
have the whole thing clearly in mind, you can 
intentionally bring these actions in play now 




Fig. 72 

The puller's left-hand grip 



and then as you wish without the disadvan- 
tage of making them a habit. Slicing and 
hooking are excellent examples of what I 
mean. 

211 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

Among the most common reasons for slicing 
is that of rolhng the forearms too soon. This 
is sometimes incorrectly referred to as turning 
the wrists. As a matter of fact, it is not the 
wrists that turn; it is the forearms. A great 
many beginners are erroneously taught to roll 
the forearms too soon and this is one reason 
why slicing is so general (Figs. 27-28). 

Remember that in swinging back and then 
down upon the ball you want to make as large 
an arc as is conveniently possible. In the 
back swing the club should travel directly 
back from the ball for some distance instead of 
being lifted up from the line of flight. In 
hitting any object, the natural thing is to start 
directly away from it. 

In the case of the back swing in golf, the 
forearms of course roll naturally of their own 
accord, but if you will examine the point at 
which they start rolling during the course 
of a perfect swing, you will find that it is 
farther back than you probably supposed. 
Take Vardon's swing for example. Vardon's 
club travels back about a yard before percep- 

212 




Fig. 73 

Finish of a slice 



213 




Fig. 74 

Finish of a hook 



214 



SLICING AND HOOKING 

tibly leaving the line of flight. Likewise, it is 
not until then that the forearms begin rolling 
over to any extent. 

Both slicing and hooking may come from 
the manner in which you grip the club. In 
the case of the chronic sheer's grip, the face 
of the club turns upward at the time of impact 
with the ball. The fault in this instance is 
usually with the left hand; the fingers of this 
hand are in plain view when in reality they 
should be just hidden. With the chronic 
hooker, however, the left hand is turned to 
the opposite extreme, while the fingers of the 
right hand are too much in view (Figs. 69-70- 
71-72). Half-way between these two ex- 
tremes is the correct grip. 

Slicing is often associated with hitting the 
ball with the heel of the club. When you 
find yourself heeling, you instinctively draw 
the club toward you and a slice is the natural 
result. In this matter of heeling you have 
combating you both the centrifugal force 
carrying the club head outward and the fact 
that your arms naturally try to straighten at 

215 




Fig. 75 

The way to finish without slicing or hooking 



2l6 



SLICING AND HOOKING 

the moment of impact. It is wise to make 
allowances for these. 

As a matter of fact this centrifugal force 
will pretty well take care of itself if you will 
simply address the ball with the toe of the 
club. As a result of this you will be likely to 
hit the ball exactly in the centre of the club. 



217 



TALK XVI 
METHODS OF CURING FAULTS 



219 



TALK XVI 

METHODS OF CURINCi FAULTS 

The acquiring of a perfect golf swing may 
be a long and painstaking process. And then 
just when you think you have it mastered, 
some single obtrusive fault may come up that 
spoils it all. If any one part of the golf swing 
goes wrong, the whole structure is likely to 
topple down like a ton of bricks. The cure 
is to recognize and then overcome the faults 
as they appear. And so long as you do recog- 
nize them, the cure is usually more simple 
than appears at first sight. I will enumerate 
a few. 

In a previous talk upon the subject of slic- 
ing, I have said that this common evil is often 
associated with heeling the ball. And heeling 
can be very easily overcome. The reason 

221 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

for hitting the ball with the heel of the club is 
for the most part the centrifugal force which 
carries the club head outward during the 
course of the swing. 

I will explain this more fully. The club 
head on the down swing should follow exactly 
the same path that it has taken to the top of 
the swing. However, there is a considerable 
amount of weight to the club head, and in 
sweeping down fast from the top of the swing, 
this generates centrifugal force which does its 
best to take the club head through a path 
outside of the one traversed in the up swing. 
If this force is strong enough to amount to 
anything the result is that you hit the ball 
with the heel of the club head. 

If you are heeling the ball to any extent I 
would advise as a cure that you change your 
tactics in addressing the ball. Instead of 
addressing with the middle of the striking face 
of the club head, address w4th the toe of the 
club. At the same time make up your mind 
that when the moment of impact comes it w411 
be the toe that connects with the ball. You 

222 




Fig. 76 

A cure for heeling. Drive the near ball without 
disturbing the other 



223 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

may be surprised to find that the part of the 
club head with which the ball actually connects 
is usually the exact centre, and the result is a 
fine, straight ball (Fig. 64). 

If addressing the ball with the toe of the 
club doesn't cure your heeling, try another 
method. Go off by yourself to some corner of 
the links and do a little practising. Place 
two balls on the ground before you, these three 
or four inches apart. The ball nearest to you 
is the one which you intend to play. Proceed 
to drive it down the course without taking 
into account the other ball. If there is any 
great amount of centrifugal force generated 
in your down swing, what really happens is that 
you hit both balls at once (Fig. 76) . 

The thing for you to do next is to make up 
your mind that you will drive the near ball 
without disturbing the other. This is excep- 
tionally good practice and after a certain 
number of tries the far ball won't bother you 
in the least. All of which means that you are 
being cured of heeling. 

Another common tendency among golf 

224 




Fig. Ti 

Keeping down the cUjow by the aid of a handker- 
chief in the armpit 



225 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

beginners is that of raising the right elbow as 
the club travels to the top of the swing. This 
is awkward and throws one quite off balance. 
Sometimes you see a golfer with his right 
elbow raised in the air almost on a line with 
the shoulders. Keep the elbow down, perhaps 
not rigid against the side but very nearly so. 
If you find that the elbow persists in raising 
up, take out your handkerchief, poke it 
between your upper right arm and side of the 
body, under the arm pit and address the ball. 
Then make up your mind that you will go 
through the golf swing without allowing the 
handkerchief to drop to the ground. This is 
entirely possible. Of course in the ordinary 
swing, your arm would not be as rigidly 
against your side as in this case. At the same 
time, this handkerchief stunt is very good 
practice, and will get you into the habit of 
keeping the right elbow down (Fig. yj). 

I will now offer a little suggestion for the 
man who is not following through properly 
with his iron shots. Lay two balls on the 
ground, a few inches apart, both in the line of 

226 




Hit both balls on the same sh(jl. This will make 
you follow throuj-^h 



JJ/ 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

flight. Then take your mashie and make up 
your mind that you are going to send both 
those balls down the course on the same shot 
(Fig. 78). 

It may not look possible at first sight but as 
a matter of fact it is entirely so. Common 
faults in playing iron shots are to turn over 
the striking face of the club and also not allow 
the club head to continue its allotted distance 
in the line of flight after the ball has been hit. 

An analysis of the problem of hitting the 
two balls on the same shot makes it clear that 
to be successful you will have to keep your 
club well down in the line of flight and not let 
it sheer up and off to the left. You put your 
reasoning into execution with the result that 
you get both balls, and at the same time learn 
the feel of a perfect follow through. This is 
very good practice. 



228 



TALK XVII 
THIS BRINGS US TO PUTTING 



229 



TALK XVII 

THIS BRINGS US TO PITTING 

I HAVE said that certain movements in the 
game of golf are fundamental. And these 
comprise about nine-tenths of the game. 
There is only one correct swing, however, and 
if you deviate from that in any way you will 
not play good golf. 

In a general way, golf may be divided into 
essentials and non-essentials. More or less 
is said, to be sure, about the difference in 
golfing form among various leading players, 
but you will find that as a matter of fact there 
is really very little difference. When it comes 
to fundamentals, the form of all the best play- 
ers is practically the same. I have said this 
before in our talks but it is a point which will 
stand plenty of repetition. 

231 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

It is in the non-essentials that these men 
differ. The golf grip is one example of this. 
One man uses the overlapping grip, another 
the natural grip. And likely enough both of 
these men play excellent golf. Although I 
personally consider the natural grip the better 
of the two, the truth of the matter is that the 
style of grip does not matter greatly and this 
because it is one of the non-essentials of 
golf. 

You will find on the other hand that the 
best players are one as regards what con- 
stitutes the best swing. They may not say 
so, but if you will make a close study of their 
respective swings you will find this true. 

This brings us to putting. Here again you 
find a wide divergence of form among various 
players. One man putts in one way, another 
in a totally different manner. And both get 
results. The reason for this is that form in 
putting is a non-essential. Strictly speaking it 
is not golf form at all. One may even go 
throug:h some entirely unnatural movements 
in putting and still be successful, although of 




Fig. 79 

Good putting practice. Lay about a half dozen 
balls around the cup 



233 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

course it is always best to stand as naturally 
as possible. 

As one example of the manner in which 
putting may differ from the long game, take 
the matter of following the ball with your eyes. 
After starting the ball upon a long drive, the 
entirely natural and therefore correct thing to 
do is to look up and follow its long flight with 
your eyes. In putting, on the other hand, one 
can often get the best results by using his ears 
instead of his eyes, and in this way; after 
hitting the ball keep your eyes glued upon the 
spot where the ball has rested and do not 
take them away until you hear the ball clink- 
ing into the cup — or not clinking, as the case 
may be. 

This tip is by no means a panacea and with 
some players it is fatal as it means concen- 
trating on an unnatural thing. The instinct 
is to watch results. Many do this too soon, so 
that to look at the place the ball left is good 
discipline for those who look forward too soon. 
It need not be adhered to permanently. 

Another essential is this: before playing the 

234 




Fig. bo 

Military stance. Heels together, legs straight. 

toes parallel with line of hole, and head directly 

over ball 



235 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

ball, your eye must be on the exact spot where 
the club head will meet it. A common mis- 
take is that of eyeing the top of the ball. But 
the most important essential of all is a feeling 
of perfect confidence that you will sink the 
ball in the cup, for a short putt or lay it dead 
in a long one and also perhaps, the ability 
to take it all in good humor if by any chance 
you fail to do so. 

Confidence of course is in more or less direct 
proportion to possibility, and for this reason 
a man cannot tackle a single difficult long 
putt with the same degree of confidence that 
he can when this distance is divided into two 
putts. And when a man plays for two putts 
in this way there is always a chance that he 
may make it in one after all. 

A great deal of practice in putting is quite 
essential and one of the best suggestions I can 
offer is this: find a deserted green and lay 
about a half dozen balls in a horseshoe around 
the cup, about three or four feet from its 
centre. Then practise your approach shots 
from the edge of the green. But instead of 

236 




Fig. 8i 

Orthodox stance. Right foot is advanced, right 

shoulder depressed and greater part of body 

weight is on the right leg 



237 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

playing to sink the ball into the cup, play to 
land just inside the circle of balls surrounding 
it (Fig. 79). 

There are several different kinds of stances 
used in putting. One of these is known as the 
military stance.' In this case, the heels are 
together, the legs straight, toes are parallel 
with line of the hole, and the head of the player 
is directly over the ball (Fig. 80). Another 
method is the orthodox stance. Here the right 
foot is advanced, the right shoulder depressed 
and most of the weight of the body is on the 
right leg (Fig. 81). 

A third method is the crouching stance. 
This is much like the orthodox stance except 
that in this case the right arm rests on the leg 
and the club is held short (Fig. 82). Any of 
these can be used and perhaps even with vari- 
ations, but in any case your position must feel 
natural and easy. 

' Last, but not always least, the condition of 
one's eyes may have much to do with effective 
putting. In the majority of cases the master 
eye is the right eye. This means that you can 

23^ 




Fk;. 82 

Crouchiiiy stance. Much like orthodox stance, 

except t'lat right arm rests on leg and club is 

held short. 



239 



INTIMATE GOLF TALKS 

see more effectively and in a straighter line 
with this eye than you can with the left. The 
vision of the master eye must not be 
obstructed in any way. 

The stance whereby you bend down on the 
right knee may be well enough if your right 
eye is the master. But if your left is the 
master eye, the vision is likely to be some- 
what obstructed in this position, and you 
would do well to change it to suit, viz. both 
eyes equal distance from the ball. 



240 



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